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Remains of a circular feature, confirmed by excavation to be a recumbent stone circle, although previously interpreted as a hut circle. Mr K Cooper in 1998 first spotted the remains of this feature under trees and it was interpreted as a hut circle. Lying within a plantation, the feature was turf-covered with a few stones protruding through the circular bank with an internal diameter of circa 16m. In addition a large flat stone lay in the centre of the circle, with a number of quartz pebbles lying around the interior. Excavation was carried out by R Bradley in 2013 following damage to the site by forestry operations in 2012. The excavation demonstrated this to be the remains of a hitherto unknown recumbent stone circle and ring cairn. The earliest structure was a substantial ring cairn 26m in diameter which enclosed an open court circa 15 m across. Built of large stones, towards the northeast it had been bounded by a kerb of upright slabs, though much of it had been robbed. The kerb was essentially a screen, the main mass of cairn was retained between two banks of large boulders. The cairn had been accompanied by a ring of standing stones with a recumbent on the southwest side. Subsequently the entire monument by capped by a layer of glacial boulders, covering the original cairn and filling the court to the level of the inner kerb. Three features were cut through this filling, two of which yielded cremated human bone. A singe sherd was found during the excavation, on the old land surface, but date and form are the vessel are unknown. Five pieces of worked flint, none stratified, were scattered over the disturbed surface of the monument. Pieces of smashed or flaked quartz and quartzite were common. A second circular feature identified nearby by volunteers from NESARS may be the remains of a hut circle (see NJ50NW0080). Radiocarbon dates indicate activity in the central area of the site between 2500 and 2300 BC. Secondary activity in the centre of the monument dates from between 1500 and 1000 BC.
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Historic Environment Records (HER)