Sir John Barrow Monument, Ulverston,Cumbria. Desk-Based Assessment and Walkover Survey.

As part of a Conservation Management Plan for the Sir John Barrow Monument,Ulverston, being compiled by Elaine Rigby Architects on behalf of the Friends of the Sir John Barrow Monument and the Ulverston Partnership, Oxford Archaeology
North (OA North) was commissioned to carry out a desk-based assessment and walkover survey. This was intended to inform a programme of repairs to the monument, as well as consider ways in which the site could be improved and managed in the future. The desk-based assessment and walkover survey was intended to outline the potential impact on any identified sites of archaeological interest in the vicinity of the monument, determine their location and extent, define their
significance, and propose any further work that might be required in order to preserve and protect them.
The Sir John Barrow Monument is situated on a hill known as Hoad, to the north of Ulverston (SD 2947 7903). Little is known about the early history of the site, although it was used as common land from an early date and was enclosed by an Act of Parliament in 1799. A recent study has, however, revealed evidence for a variety of phases of activity, the earliest of which comprises a large hill-top enclosure, or
‘hillfort’, close to which is a possible cairnfield, both of which are potentially of prehistoric origin (Elsworth 2005a). There are also remains thought to relate to the
woollen industry in the form of tenter banks and potash kilns, which may be medieval in origin. In addition, there are considerable areas of quarrying and ridge and furrow
that relate to various periods of post-medieval use of the landscape. The construction of the Sir John Barrow Monument between 1850 and 1851 has also led to a number of other sites being constructed, including two small enclosures that may have been the workmen’s huts, seats and areas of graffiti (ibid).
The desk-based assessment re-examined the results of this earlier investigation, and