Round Loaf

Round Loaf stands on Anglezarke Moor in the West Pennine Moors near Chorley in Lancashire. It is a Late Neolithic or Bronze Age tumulus, a bowl barrow built between 2400 and 1500 BC. The mound covers single or multiple burials and some were surrounded by a ditch. Round Loaf is one of 10,000 such barrows across the country. It occupies a prominent position on the moor and has not been excavated. The ancient monument includes an oval mound measuring 73 metres from north to south and 66 metres from east to west. It rises to a height of between 3.6 and 5.5 metres. The mound is constructed of earth and small stones. Flakes of flint have been found on its summit. The structure is aligned between Great Hill and Pikestones. Visitors find an isolated earth mound on open moorland. Some erosion has occurred on the summit. The site remains undisturbed and archaeologically significant. It is a scheduled monument of national importance. The surrounding moor offers wide views across the West Pennine Moors.