<< Our Photo Pages >> Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn - Cairn in England in Yorkshire (North)

Submitted by Bladup on Tuesday, 21 March 2023  Page Views: 15193

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Country: England County: Yorkshire (North) Type: Cairn
Nearest Town: Great Ayton  Nearest Village: Gribdale Terrace
Map Ref: NZ5939811514  Landranger Map Number: 93
Latitude: 54.495487N  Longitude: 1.084446W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 5

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Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by Bladup : Part of Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn. (Vote or comment on this photo)
A chambered cairn and adjacent monuments on Great Ayton Moor. North Yorkshire. There are also ring cairns, a round cairn, a round barrow and an enclosure. John D Hunter has kindly included detailed notes on these sites in his comments and photos added to this page.

This site is scheduled as Historic England List ID 1004102, Great Ayton Moor Cairn Cemetery and earthworks. There is also an entry on Pastscape Monument No. 27723, which describes: "An extensive Bronze Age cairnfield on Great Ayton Moor (centred around NZ 595 115). Up to 150 cairns have been identified, most of which are presumed to be clearance cairns. A number of the cairns have been recorded separately as ring or round cairns, where they were considered funerary". Click on the 'Related Sites' tab towards the bottom of the Pastscape record for details of individual cairns and groups of cairns which have separate records.

Don't forget to click on the 'we have more than 25 photos' link at the bottom of the photographs; these include more recent photographs from John.

Note: The full excavation report for this site is now available to download, details in the comments on our page
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Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Basic Diagram (not to scale) of the chambered cairn at NZ 59398 11514 and adjacent monuments on Great Ayton Moor. This basic diagram should help in the understanding of the layout of the cairns and associated features that are at this location. The north / south track running along the side of the plantation on the left of the diagram is the Cleveland Way. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : The Chamber (Remains of) – Now exposed and filled in. The large stone at the front of the image is called the “Headstone” and denotes the eastern end of the chamber. This stone is in fact some 7ft tall and 5½ ft wide . Prior to excavation this was the only stone of the chamber visible, protruding about a foot above the surface of the cairn everything else being covered by about a foot of s... (Vote or comment on this photo)

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Cairn B – It is very difficult to get an overall image of the neolithic chambered cairn B , everything tends to blend in together, with the bracken being prolific in places and it just looks like your taking a photo of the ground, so this very rough sketch is just to give an idea of the layout. B1, B2 B3 are where the bronze age secondary burials took place which consisted of cremated bones and... (Vote or comment on this photo)

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : The Chamber (Remains of) – Viewed looking northerly, The side wall stone shown is in its original position though not orientation. When excavated there were four stones each side of the chamber leading off from the Headstone. They were all 3 to 4 ft long and between 2½ ft to 3ft wide. None were upright as they are now, they were raised to this position during excavation. Consequently as they we... (Vote or comment on this photo)

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Cairn B – Viewed looking north easterly, Oct 2018. This shows the overall location of the chamber on the cairn, the chamber itself extended 11½ ft westward from the Headstone to the point indicated by the Walking Stick (Marker). It was about 5ft wide at the base. From the Marker extending a further 6ft to the west was a basic passageway emerging from the cairn about 17ft from its circumference....

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : The Chamber (Remains of) – Viewing the top of the now filled in chamber from the south, Oct 2018. The headstone denotes the eastern end of the chamber. Originally there were four stone slabs each side of the chamber leading off from the Headstone. They were all 3 to 4 ft long and between 2½ ft to 3ft wide. Looking at an old photo it would appear that the stones on the image marked 2 and 8 are i...

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : The Chamber (Remains of) – Looking down directly on top of the now filled in chamber towards the Headstone and Ring Cairn C, Nov 2018.

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : This view looking north westerly in Oct 2018 shows the difficulty of trying to get an overall view of the chambered cairn with a camera because of the overgrowth particularly bracken. Still it gives an idea off what to expect at the location and as with a lot of these types of sites most of the features are quite prominent when viewed with the naked eye, though not all

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : The two bronze age ring cairns C & D viewed from the remains of the neolithic chamber, Oct 2018

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : The two bronze age ring cairns C & D viewed from the neolithic chambered cairn looking easterly, June 2015

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Ring Cairn C - Viewed looking north easterly, Oct 2018. At the time of excavation this ring cairn measured 28 to 30 ft in diameter with a bank 5 to 6 ft wide and 2 to 2½ ft high. Two cremation pits were found within the interior one containing a mass of calcined bones and the other with an inverted urn containing a few calcined bones

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Ring Cairn C – Viewed looking easterly, June 2015

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Ring Cairn C - Viewed looking easterly, Oct 2018

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Ring Cairn D - viewed looking north easterly, June 2015

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Ring Cairn D - Viewed looking north easterly, with marsh grass growing out of the centre, Oct 2018

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Ring Cairn D - With marsh grass growing out of the centre, Nov 2018. At the time of excavation this ring cairn measured 25 to 27ft in diameter (slightly smaller than Ring Cairn C). Its bank was about 4½ ft wide and 2ft high. Three cremation pits were found within the interior one of which contained a mass of calcined bones but no pottery. Another pit also contained a mass of calcined bones as we...

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Ring Cairn D - Viewed looking westerly, Oct 2018. Neolithic chambered cairn behind.

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Tail E and Round Cairn F – Viewed looking north easterly from the end of the Tail, Oct 2018. The reality is the Tail is difficult to make out because of its low height and it being covered in heather. However the old grass covered trackway running SW to NE in this view helps define the western edge of the Tail . Round Cairn F is adjacent to the eastern edge of the Tail and about halfway along.. ...

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Tail E and Round Cairn F – Stood on the Tail looking north easterly, Oct 2018. The old grass covered trackway running SW to NE defines the western edge of the Tail. Round Cairn F is adjacent to the eastern edge of the Tail and about midway along its length. The Tail adjacent to the round cairn is very mutilated, with stones probably being taken from it to help build the cairn. Also from about ...

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Round Cairn F – Viewed stood on the Tail looking north easterly, Oct 2018.

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Round Cairn F – Viewed looking at the robbed out top of the cairn, Oct 2018. This cairn was not part of the 1950’s excavation of the complex and is thought to have been previously excavated in the mid 1800’s by Dr Craster of Middlesbrough who left no written records.

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Tail and Chambered Cairn B - Approaching the chambered cairn along the Tail, Oct 2018

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Enclosure A - Like the chambered cairn it is also difficult to get an overview of the enclosure with a camera, though it is easy enough to pick it out with the naked eye. Everything is overgrown mainly with bracken so this rough sketch is just to give an idea of the layout. The sketch shows the location of the three cairns A1, A2, A3 from the cairnfield which were incorporated into the banks of t...

Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn
Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn submitted by johndhunter : Enclosure A – Whilst it is difficult to get an overview image of the enclosure, this image taken Nov 2018 gives an idea of the terrain. The image is taken stood on the western bank of the enclosure near Cairn A3 looking towards the north east corner and Cairn A2

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 309m SSW 205° Great Ayton Moor HC3* Ancient Village or Settlement (NZ5927311231)
 404m SE 124° Great Ayton Moor HC2* Ancient Village or Settlement (NZ5973611291)
 508m ESE 111° Great Ayton Moor HC1* Ancient Village or Settlement (NZ5987711340)
 758m ENE 58° Great Ayton Moor Cairns 2* Cairn (NZ6003611926)
 896m NNW 348° Newton Moor GA2* Marker Stone (NZ5919912388)
 978m NNE 19° Newton Moor RC2* Round Cairn (NZ5971312441)
 1.0km NNE 14° Newton Moor RC3* Round Cairn (NZ5962812494)
 1.0km NNE 24° Newton Moor RC1* Round Cairn (NZ5979412448)
 1.0km NNE 13° Newton Moor RC4* Round Cairn (NZ5962612519)
 1.2km N 6° Newton Moor RC5* Round Cairn (NZ5951412666)
 1.2km N 5° Newton Moor RC6 & RC7* Round Cairn (NZ5948612730)
 1.3km ENE 76° Percy Cross and Bowl Barrow* Ancient Cross (NZ6067411848)
 1.3km SSE 162° Coate Moor* Round Barrow(s) (NZ59841025)
 1.5km NNW 345° Pinchinthorpe Moor tumuli* Cairn (NZ5900612945)
 1.6km E 89° Percy Cross Rigg Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (NZ6099911551)
 1.8km NW 307° Roseberry Topping* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (NZ5791012603)
 1.9km ENE 68° Codhill Slack* Ring Cairn (NZ6112812241)
 2.0km N 353° Hanging Stone (Hutton Lowcross Woods)* Rock Outcrop (NZ5914713460)
 2.3km ENE 60° Codhill Heights* Round Barrow(s) (NZ6136812677)
 2.4km E 98° Percy Rigg* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NZ61761120)
 2.9km NW 304° Newton Under Roseberry Standing Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NZ570131)
 3.5km ENE 62° Three Howes (Gisborough Moor)* Barrow Cemetery (NZ6249913201)
 3.6km ENE 72° Pretty Hut Howe* Round Barrow(s) (NZ6278412680)
 3.6km NNE 18° Ruther Cross* Ancient Cross (NZ6044514960)
 3.6km SSE 151° Warren Moor* Rock Art (NZ61240836)
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"Great Ayton Moor Chambered Cairn" | Login/Create an Account | 5 News and Comments
  
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Society Research Report 7 Chambered Cairn on Great Ayton Moor by Andy B on Tuesday, 21 March 2023
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Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society Research Report 7 Chambered Cairn on Great Ayton Moor
In full in various formats including PDF download
https://archive.org/details/scarborough047/mode/1up

With thanks to Jason @SMurnau on Twitter for the link
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Re: Great Ayton Cairns by johndhunter on Monday, 19 November 2018
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Description of cairn complex which was excavated between 1953 and 1960: Main source “The Chambered Cairn and Adjacent Monuments on Great Ayton Moor” by R. H. Hayes 1967. This is also the source of the information provided with the uploaded images

Note: Measurements given are those they took at the time of excavation. Grid coordinates given are from either my gps or pastscape. Letter prefixes given indicate the position of the monument in the uploaded diagram.

B - The main feature is a chambered cairn (NZ 59398 11514) and “Tail” (E), both built in the Neolithic but at different times. The chambered cairn is 3 ft high and measuring 56 ft north to south and 52 ft east to west. It is built of boulders many of them large. The chamber and entrance passage are situated in the south west quadrant, nothing of any consequence was found in the chamber. However three separate secondary burials consisting of calcined bones and the remains of pottery from urns of the bronze age were found within the cairn itself, all being close to the east end of the chamber. The chambered cairn is Pastscape Monument 27642 and further information can be found there, it also has information about the “Tail” as described below. Also as far as I am aware this is the only chambered cairn in North East Yorkshire

E - The “Tail” or Long Bank is a low bank of stones which extends from the south west of the chambered cairn (B) for at least 300ft and was probably longer but has been obliterated by old trackways etc. Best as I can make out the visible portion ends at around NZ 59341 11421. It is about 2 ft high and 26 ft wide for most of its length until the last 30 ft when it tapers to about 12 ft wide and 1 ft high.

F - Adjacent to and about halfway along the “Tail”(E) on its south / east side is a bronze age round cairn (NZ 59380 11464) 40 ft in diameter and 3 ft high with a robbed out centre. The “Tail” at this point is very mutilated and it is probable that a large proportion of the stones used to build the cairn were taken from the “Tail” at this juncture. The round cairn is Pastscape Monument 1261697 and further information can be found there

C - Bronze age ring cairn (NZ 59410 11505) 30 ft in diameter attached to the south eastern side of the chambered cairn (B) and to another ring cairn (D) to the north. The stone bank is 5ft in width and 2 to 2 ½ ft high

D - Bronze age ring cairn (NZ 59410 11510) 26 ft in diameter attached to the north eastern edge of the chambered cairn {B} and to the ring cairn {C} to its south. The stone bank is 4 ½ ft wide and 2ft high.Pastscape Monument 1261694 gives further information on both the ring cairns

A - Bronze age roughly oval enclosure (NZ 59410 11531) adjoining the northern end of the chambered cairn (B). About 150ft long and 98 ft wide. Its banks are low lying about 1 ½ to 2ft high and 10 to 14 ft wide. It also incorporates three small cairns from the surrounding cairn field within its banks. The enclosure is Pastscape Monument 1261509 and further information can be foun

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Re: Great Ayton by johndhunter on Saturday, 13 October 2018
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I think I know what has happened here , you have confused Great Ayton near Stokesley with West Ayton and East Ayton near Scarborough. Both these latter villages are between Rudston and Whitby also there is a village called Langdale End just to the north of them . However I still haven’t figured out how Stanwick or Urevale comes into it.
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Re: Great Ayton by drolaf on Tuesday, 05 April 2016
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Great Ayton is located in a position that has been important since at least the Neolithic. It was on the major Neolithic route from Langdale to Whitby and the route to Rudston. In the iron age it guarded the Tees valley to the north and controlled access to Stanwick and Urevale.
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    Re: Great Ayton by johndhunter on Thursday, 11 October 2018
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    I am confused by the above statement as far as I am aware Stanwick is in Northamptonshire and I have no idea where Urevale is nor does Google , however if you mean the route that the river Ure flows through that’s too far south for Great Ayton to be controlling anything. Also as Langdale is in Cumbria I would be interested in you source that says there was a neolithic route from there to Whitby via Great Ayton
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