Register of ancient monuments
Reference number 1018233
Enclosed Bronze Age Urnfield
Balkram Edge
Wainstalls
Halifax
Calderdale
DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT
The monument includes a Bronze Age urnfield and its enclosing bank. It is situated 160m west of Overgreen Royd Farm, Mixenden. The field containing the urnfield has been ploughed in the past, but the bank still survives to a height of 0.2m. The bank is subcircular and measures about 5m wide and 50m in diameter; it previously extended into a field to the north west but has been destroyed in this area by a small stone quarry.
ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE
An enclosed Bronze Age urnfield is a burial ground in which cremations, usually placed in cinerary urns, were interred within a circular enclosure up to 30m in diameter. This was formed by either a ditch, a bank, or a bank within a stone circle. There was normally an entrance or causeway allowing access into the enclosure, where a central mound or standing stone is sometimes found. Excavated examples are known to date to the Middle bronze Age between the 16th and 11th centuries BC. Enclosed Bronze Age urnfields are largely found in the north of England, mainly in Yorkshire, Cumbria and Northumberland, although their distribution also extends into Scotland. They are a rare type of Bronze Age burial monument, with fewer than 50 identified examples and provide an important insight into beliefs and social organisation during this period. All positively identified examples are considered to be nationally important.
Although the surface of the enclosed Bronze Age urnfield 160m west of Overgreen Royd Farm has been disturbed by ploughing, it retains evidence of its form and location, and will retain evidence of the burials originally placed within it. It is one of several such sites in the Calderdale area.
