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Skellaw Hill

Round Barrow(s)

<b>Skellaw Hill</b>Posted by The EternalImage © The Eternal
Also known as:
  • Hill of Skulls
  • Scale How

Nearest Town:Appleby-In-Westmr. (13km ENE)
OS Ref (GB):   NY556155 / Sheet: 90
Latitude:54° 31' 57.32" N
Longitude:   2° 41' 10.36" W



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<b>Skellaw Hill</b>Posted by Vicster <b>Skellaw Hill</b>Posted by Vicster <b>Skellaw Hill</b>Posted by The Eternal <b>Skellaw Hill</b>Posted by The Eternal <b>Skellaw Hill</b>Posted by The Eternal <b>Skellaw Hill</b>Posted by stubob <b>Skellaw Hill</b>Posted by fitzcoraldo <b>Skellaw Hill</b>Posted by fitzcoraldo <b>Skellaw Hill</b>Posted by fitzcoraldo

Fieldnotes

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Visited this site about two years ago when on my way to the Thunder Stone. As reported elsewhere, not much to see just a grass covered mound in a field. Easy to spot from the road so worth a look when in the area. Posted by CARL
4th August 2011ce

I couldn't help but feel some small disappointment when we finally realised that the low hump at the top of the field was indeed the place we were looking for.

Maybe its something to do with the rather OTT name (Hill of Skulls???) but once you wander up the field and stand on top of what remains, the beauty of the vista before you and the fact that you can see both the Goggelby Stone and the site of the Thunder Stone make up for the initial reaction.

I would recommend walking between the 3 sites (and Asper's Field) to get sense of the landscape.
Vicster Posted by Vicster
27th March 2006ce

Also known as Scale How, this is a low mound in a field, just over a drystone wall. There are stone "steps" built into the wall for access.

It is a Bronze Age bowl barrow, constructed of earth and stones, 17m in diameter and 1.5m in height. Human remains were found during 19th C excavations.

It is part of the huge Shap complex of circles and avenues, most of which have sadly been destroyed.

When approaching on the road from Haweswater (from the NW and W as it winds) the barrow can be seen outlined against the sky.
The Eternal Posted by The Eternal
21st May 2005ce
Edited 5th June 2005ce

Mr Cope informs us that this humble bump was once a "splendid sepulchral heap".
All that remains today is a slight rise in the south eastern corner of the field. The field wall to the south of the hill contains a couple of decent size stones, especially when viewed from the field side.
The Goggleby Stone is visible from the hill with another large, unnamed, stone in between. To get to the Goggleby Stone from Skellaw Hill just walk along the narrow marked corridor between two fields that starts at the crossroads. On this path you will also come a cross another couple of decent sized stones.
fitzcoraldo Posted by fitzcoraldo
21st February 2003ce

Folklore

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Tony Walker in his online book, The Ghostly Guide to the Lake District, reports that the Skellaw mound was haunted by a 'gypsy looking man with a dark complexion who would glide among the rocks'. Apparently he stopped visiting the mound once it had been excavated.

www.ghoststories.org.uk/stories/ghostlyguidelakedistrict.pdf
fitzcoraldo Posted by fitzcoraldo
7th June 2007ce

Miscellaneous

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"The remains belong to two, possibly three, alignments or avenues spread over a distance of more than 1.5m (2.3km). The two identifiable ends were a stone circle and a burial mound and as elsewhere male and female forms were paired. By analogy a Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age date can be assumed"

Archeaological Sites of the Lake District
T. Clare
Moorland Pub. Co. Ltd
1981
fitzcoraldo Posted by fitzcoraldo
21st February 2003ce

Links

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Hill of Skulls/Skellaw


From the Shap Community Website.
The Eternal Posted by The Eternal
5th June 2005ce