More information : (NY 5370 2430) Long Cairn (NR) (1)
A long cairn, 300 ft long and 10 ft average height, the east end apparently of boulders, the middle and west end of earth and stones. Visited by C W Phillips in 1933 and by CWP and OGS Crawford in 1938. (2)
The cairn, correctly described, is covered by trees. It is partially mutilated on the south side, but is otherwise, well preserved.
Surveyed at 1:2500. (3)
The mound is now so covered in vegetation that accurate survey is impossible. However, it appears to be c 101m long (there is no evidence for Manby's suggested 275m) with a maximum width of 23m at the E end: towards the W this is reduced to c 13m. Its height varies from c 3.80m at the E end to c 1.50m at the W. Its sides rise quite steeply and the top is relatively flat. The mound is distinctly bipartite, a transverse hollow between 48m and 56m from the E end marks the division: this shows up very clearly on photographs before the present tree growth. Suspicion persists that the mound may be linked to the cutting of the modern minor road it flanks, but the weight of evidence points to it being a long cairn. (4)
NY 537243 Long barrow on Trainford Brow 1/2 mile (800m) N of Lowther Village; scheduled. (5)
The mound, first noted by Phillips and Crawford (see above) was dismissed by the RCHME around the same time as follows: "The wayfarer approaching the cross-roads nearly a mile ENE of Lowther Castle might eye suspiciously a long mound withinthe NW angle of the crossing, but would probably conclude that it is nothing more than an old spoil dump from the neighbouring road cutting". Notwithstanding this, the balance of probability appears to have fallen in favour of identification as a genuine long cairn, resulting in the site's scheduling. The most recent published description (Masters 1984) concludes withthe following: "In fairness to the contra opinion expressed by the Royal Commission over forty years ago, it must be admitted that the minor road which runs along the S side of the cairn is in a cutting which gets progressively deeper from W to E. This does, of course, correspond to an increase in volume of cairnmaterial, but in the absence of further evidence to the contrary, the balance of probability still seems to me to favour a long cairn rather than a spoil dump." (4-6) |