More information : [SD 50147428] Tumulus [O.E.] (1)
On Summerhouse Hill, to the west of Yealand Conyers "... are the remains of a tumulus opened by the later Mr. Ford's father; an urn was found which was afterwards destroyed." (2)
In poor condition, 2ft. heap of stones covered with grass. [See Lancs. 18 SE 8, Barrow on "Barrow Hill," excavated 1778.] (3)
The feature is a cairn, of earth packed rubble with a pronounced rim. The excavation hollow is evident. Resurveyed at 1/2500. (4)
SD 5014 7428. Round cairn on Summerhouse Hill. Scheduled RSM No 23730. (5)
The monument on Summerhouse Hill was briefly perambulated, but not surveyed, in April 2014 during ground investigation in Stage 2 of English Heritage's NAIS Upland Pilot Project (covering parts of the Southern Lakes, Western Dales & Arnside) (6). The remains comprise a low, much-disturbed, sub-circular mound measuring approximately 10m in overall diameter and c.0.3m high, with remnants of a circuit of limestone kerbstones marking its periphery. The mound has a slightly domed but rather lumpy top, in particular a marked depression, c1.2m wide, is located slightly north-east of the centre and seems to mark the position of a former excavation of some antiquity. The site is centred approximately 320m south of Yealand Manor and sits at 120m OD on a shelf of land between two benches of outcropping limestone pavement within sparse woodland at the eastern edge of Summerhouse Hill, this position gives dramatic views east into the broad valley below. The ground to its north-west has been slightly worn away by the presence of a later track up from the valley to the nearby lime kiln (uid 1494545) and by localised small-scale quarrying of limestone pavement. (6)
The track alongside the burial cairn is referred to as ‘Crag-gate’ by S. B. Meyers, who also notes that the site was excavated in the second decade of the 19th century by John Ford of Yealand Manor. The same authority suggests that Ford extracted a clay urn containing bones and ashes and that later the urn was reputedly purposely destroyed by a superstitious housemaid. (7)
It is possible, but not certain, that this monument record refers to the same round cairn as uid 43073 / SD 57 SW 21. Both are described as being on Summerhouse Hill (formerly Barrow Hill) near Yealand Conyers, and both are said to have contained a single urn enclosing cremated human bone.
If this monument record does indeed refer to the same round cairn as uid 43073, then a note from May 1779 in Archaeologia - reporting that a Dr Lettsom had informed the society that the barrow had been excavated in 1778 to reveal an urn (broken during excavation) containing calcified human bone and a large blue glass bead - suggests that excavation took place several decades earlier than that described by authorities 2 and 7, before John Ford had acquired the land at Yealand Manor (formerly Morecombe Lodge). However, there is no certainty that the two monument records refer to the same site, or that both excavation scenarios didn’t taken place either at the same, or separate, sites. Further research might resolve this. (8)
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