Monument Number 890910 |
| Hob Uid: 890910 | |
Location :
Stockport
Non Civil Parish
|
| Grid Ref : SJ9867187246 |
| Summary : An Early Bronze Age cairn, 12m in diameter and surviving up to 0.4m high, sited on a prominent natural knoll on Mellor Moor and therefore highly visible from afar in all directions. The cairn sits slightly off the summit, suggesting that it was designed to be visible primarily from the low-lying plain, in an arc through south-west to north-west. What appears to be a sparse scatter of clearance cairns on the gently sloping top of the knoll to the west of the cairn may represent the clearance of the land to allow unrestricted views of the monument, since agriculture on this constricted piece of ground seems improbable. K Lowe's excavations in 1976, currently unpublished, showed the monument to have been built in at least two phases, with the addition of a new outer kerb in craesing the original diameter by c. 3m and enclosing a series of satellite chambers and cremations in cists. At the time of the 2008 field examination, the excavation trenches remained open, though the stone rubble remains essentially undisturbed. Further excavations in 2007 revealed what may be one of the primary graves, heavily disturbed (possibly by robbing for surrounding post-medieval field walls or for the construction of an OS trig pillar on its top), but nevertheless containing an amber necklace. |
More information : [SJ 98658725] Centred near trig point on Mellor Moor. A ?BA cairn
excavated by K Lowe in 1976. (1)
(SJ 98671 87247) In June 2008, English Heritage examined the monument in response to a request from the Mellor History Project. The Early Bronze Age cairn, 12m in diameter and surviving up to 0.4m high, is sited on a prominent natural knoll on Mellor Moor and therefore highly visible from afar in all directions. The cairn sits slightly off the summit, suggesting that it was designed to be visible primarily from the low-lying plain, in an arc through south-west to north-west. What appears to be a sparse scatter of clearance cairns on the gently sloping top of the knoll to the west of the cairn may represent the clearance of the land to allow unrestricted views of the monument, since agriculture on this constricted piece of ground seems improbable. K Lowe's excavations in 1976, currently unpublished, showed the monument to have been built in at least two phases, with the addition of a new outer kerb in craesing the original diameter by c. 3m and enclosing a series of satellite chambers and cremations in cists. At the time of the 2008 field examination, the excavation trenches remained open, though the stone rubble remains essentially undisturbed. Further excavations in 2007 revealed what may be one of the primary graves, heavily disturbed (possibly by robbing for surrounding post-medieval field walls or for the construction of an OS trig pillar on its top), but nevertheless containing an amber necklace. (2)
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