Scheduled Monument: The Bridestones Neolithic Chambered Long Cairn. (1011115)

EXTRACT FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE'S RECORD OF SCHEDULED MONUMENTS MONUMENT: The Bridestones Neolithic chambered long cairn. PARISH: BIDDULPH CONGLETON DISTRICT: CONGLETON STAFFORDSHIRE MOORLANDS COUNTY: CHESHIRE STAFFORDSHIRE NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 13500 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SJ90596218 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument is the Bridestones Neolithic chambered long cairn located on the western flank of Cloud Hill, a ridge forming a prominent northern extension of Biddulph Moor, with extensive views across the Cheshire plain to the west. The monument includes a chambered tomb measuring 6m x 2.7m made of large stone slabs set on edge and divided into two by a now broken cross slab. South of the chamber's entrance is a portal stone standing 3m high while north of the entrance is a re-positioned portal stone 1.2m high. To the east of the chamber is a forecourt originally surrounded by a complete or partial circle of stones of which 3 survive. Limited excavation of the forecourt during the 1930's revealed cobbling which included a charcoal layer containing flint blades and a flint scraper. The long cairn covering the chamber was recorded in 1764 as being c.110m long x 11m wide. It was largely carted away for roadmaking that year. A second chamber in the centre of the mound was recorded as measuring c.2.2m square x 1m high and a third chamber was noticed in 1766. A plan of the monument in 1766 shows four portal stones - two north and two south of the chamber's entrance. The forecourt was surrounded by six stones in semi-circular form with two conjectural stones completing the circle. Two stones stood within the circle and two stood outside the circle to the east. A drystone wall, all fences and information signs are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath all these features is included. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE Stone long cairns were constructed as drystone mounds covering stone-built tombs, often megalithic in character, which served as vaults or chambers in which successive burials or cremations were placed during the Early Neolithic period (3400 - 2400BC). They represent the burial places of Britain's early farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments surviving visibly in the present landscape. Where investigated they appear to have been used for the burial of only certain privileged members of the community, often with only partial human remains selected for interment. It is probable, therefore, that these monuments acted as important ritual sites for local communities over a considerable period of time. Some 500 long cairns and long barrows, the earthen equivalents of the stone cairns, are recorded in England. As one of the few types of Neolithic structures to survive as earthworks, and due to their comparative rarity, their considerable age and their longevity as a monument type, all long cairns are considered to be nationally important. Despite the removal of the covering cairn, the Bridestones long cairn retains important features including its internal burial chambers and the entrance features which provided access into the monument. It is an unusual outlier to the main regional groupings of such megalithic long cairns, these lying mainly further south, in Wales or the Cotswold - Severn areas, or further north, in south-western or western Scotland. SCHEDULING HISTORY Monument included in the Schedule on 8th November 1928 as: COUNTY/NUMBER: Cheshire 4 NAME: The Bridestones, near Congleton The reference of this monument is now: NATIONAL MONUMENT NUMBER: 13500 NAME: The Bridestones Neolithic chambered long cairn. SCHEDULING REVISED ON 01st September 1993