Lune Valley
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I first got interested in this area after looking at Casterton Stone Circle. Quickly realising that there was a known second Ring Cairn just South of the "stone circle". Having recently started using Joe Ridley's high resolution Gradient software, I quickly discovered that the area was stiff with prehistoric remains, starting with the Bronze Age. Thus I have had to concentrate on a selection of the more interesting sites. There is a wide scatter of solitary Bronze Age cairns which would require a project of their own. A sample of settlements found in the Lune valley was documented by Ian Hardwick, Prehistoric and Romano-British Settlement in the Lune Valley, Cumbria: an assessment of recent aerial and field survey, CWAAS 2017 23-42 Here I am principally concerned with Early monuments.
Neolithic ?
Cowdber has 3 hilltop Circles. I wouldn't be surprised if they were modern. There are numerous plantations in the area some of which are circular. Bottom left circle has trees. The other 2 circles currently do not. What if they are not plantations? Plantations may have been put on top of the Neolithic / Bronze Age. The issue of plantations is a recurring one and some may mask ancient sites.
The site to the East of Sellet Bank is probably Iron Age. The striking feature due West of the circle, might be a Neolithic Cursus. The eastern end terminates on the Sellet Bank ridge. A convincing, but faint 35m Circle lies South of the Cursus on the highest point on the ridge. The Circle may have a cairn or inner circle inside it. Either suggesting Bronze Age.
Casterton Stone Circle SD 639 800
The most northerly Ring Cairn site in the southern survey is Casterton Stone Circle. It has a 20 stone setting, sat upon the inside of a circular bank (as shown on the SE quadrant). The stones are arranged in diametric opposition and there are stones on both the North / South and East / West alignments. There are 7 of these pairs shown on the plan, the remaining 3 pairs being compromised by displaced stones on the southern side. 4 of the pairs align with the exact centre of the circle and 4 of which align with a centre 1m to the West of the true centre (1 pair aligns with both centres).
The Stone Circle at Casterton has a companion site about 200m to the south. This companion site, not having a Stone Circle, appears to be a simple Ring Cairn. Casterton Stone Circle has been classed as an Embanked Stone Circle, but the simplest explanation is that originally we had two Ring Cairns, one of which subsequently had a Stone Circle added. On that basis, without any other evidence, I would classify Casterton Stone Circle above, as a Megalithed Ring Cairn rather than as an Embanked Stone Circle.
Eller Beck Cairns
Close to the Casterton Ring Cairns, there is a linear group of Cairns at Eller Beck. These Bronze Age sites date from the period 2300BC to 1400BC. The various other remains, probably Medieval or Late Iron Age.
Hipping Hall
Hipping Hall is an unusual site. If it was Iron Age, the accomodation would be inside the Oval Enclosure. Was the Enclosure an Ellipse underneath later modifications? The settlement may be medieval, but clearly respected the integrity of the Enclosure to the extent that NE part of the settlement appears to be scooped. Would they have done this if the Enclosure was contemporary? A modern track bisects the Enclosure. Other features in the South of the Enclosure may be of a later date. More questions than answers.
Larum Gill Class 3 Henge
South East of Larum Gill, Gradient high resolution Lidar seems to show a rare Class 3 Henge with 2 pairs of opposed entrances. If this was not enough, in the NW quadrant, next to Larum Gill, we have 17 Unenclosed Scooped Platforms. I say unenclosed, but they do seem to occupy a very large Enclosure best seen in the South and North. The Northernmost Platform lies on the boundary suggesting that the Enclosure might predate the Platforms. Dating the 3 elements would be interesting. In Troutbeck, we have Unenclosed Scooped Platforms near Hird Wood Bronze Age Concentric Stone Circle - these have more chance of being contemporary. Other clusters of Lune valley Platforms can also be seen at SD 611 881, SD 622 719 and SD 633 858.
Ashdale Gill
The Ashdale Gill Unenclosed Scooped Platforms are unusual in their distribution. Some are doubled up, side by side and they are also clustered. The top of the scarp next to the Gill is a popular location - they may have been less precarious when built. There are some fording points at F where the banks are less steep. The settlement South of F looks to be Iron Age. The settlement South of the Gill probably connected with the settlement just to the North directly. There seem to be some boundaries in the East - a Double Ditch at D which goes down the scarp to the Gill and there may be a Wall stretching from the isolated Double Platform at W1, down to the Gill and then back up on the other side to W2 (or it may just be part of a rectangular structure at W2). Various tracks seem to be associated with these platforms.
Rigmaden Unenclosed Scooped Platforms
West of Rigmaden there are at least 47 Unenclosed Scooped Platforms. There are some less well defined which have not been counted. These are at a relatively low altitude (160m) compared with some of their Cumbrian cousins. The possible nature of these Platforms is examined on the this link: Platforms.
