| Description | This is a ring barrow with a central mound, comprising a circular bank of earth and stones, well spread and c. 0.5m high when visited by the O.S. in 1960. Slight indications of an inner ditch on the NW segments were noticed at this time. The central mound has no significance, being the result of tipping in the centre of the ring after Watson's excavations (half a quern was found in this tipped material by Watson in 1953).
There is some confusion over the finds and whether they actually came from this barrow; Wilkinson refers to the finding, c.1897 of parts of a broken urn containing the bones of two people, an adult and a child, also an accessory cup (now in British Museum), and several Bronze Age arrowheads and other Bronze Age flints. Although he gives the diameter of the circle as c. 90', it is no doubt that referred to by Roth (1906), who gives the diameter as 132'. Roth (1906) states that there were originally three rings formed by a circular vallum of earth at Cockhill and that 2 had been destroyed by quarrying. At this time, i.e. 1906, a large number of small round mounds, c.15' diameter and c.18 high, had been noticed near the ring barrow, so it seems likely that there were other remains, though some of the mounds could have been quarry spoil. The quarrying shows up well on recent aerial photos (ref.:WY 153/3; WY 153/1 2,4 6). Manby (1986, p.105) states that the accessory cup came from a grave exposed in the face of a quarry on Cockhill (BM acc. no. 98.10 15.1), see PRN 1272.
English Heritage Scheduled Ancient Monument Description of SAM 31483: The monument includes a Bronze Age urnfield and its enclosing bank. It is situated on the edge of a natural terrace 440m north west of Rough Bottom on Midgeley Moor.
The bank is subcircular, approximately 41m in diameter, 7m wide and 0.5m high. There are traces of an internal ditch, and a small earth mound near the centre of the ring. This mound was excavated in 1933 and produced half a quern. Previous excavations in 1897 had produced burnt human bone and fragments of prehistoric pottery.
A fence which crosses the southern edge of the monument is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath is included. |