{{short description|Area of countryside in Cumbria, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} thumb|right|View from Birkrigg Common to Bardsea village and over the bay, with stone circle '''Birkrigg''' or '''Birkrigg Common''' is an open-area of limestone countryside near the town of Ulverston on the Furness Peninsula in southern Cumbria, England. There is extensive limestone pavement on Birkrigg, which is protected under ''The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981''.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Goldie|first1=Helen|title=The legal protection of limestone pavements in Great Britain|journal=Environmental Geology|volume=21|issue=3|page=160|doi=10.1007/BF00775300}}</ref> Birkrigg's peak is at {{convert|136|m|ft}},<ref>{{cite web|title=Birkrigg Common's Distant Past|url=http://www.theaa.com/walks/birkrigg-commons-distant-past-420683|publisher=AA|accessdate=14 November 2017}}</ref> but its position as the high point on the east of the Furness Peninsula affords it extensive views to the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, Howgills and across Morecambe Bay to Blackpool.<ref name="WG Walk">{{cite web|title=A delightful ramble around Birkrigg Commo|url=http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/10049552.A_delightful_ramble_around_Birkrigg_Common/|publisher=Westmorland Gazette|accessdate=14 November 2017}}</ref>

Birkrigg has a long history of human inhabitation, and the common contains Birkrigg stone circle, a Bronze Age stone circle which is a scheduled monument.<ref name="ps">{{cite PastScape |mnumber=38039 |mname=Druid's Circle |accessdate=12 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE|desc=Concentric stone circle on Birkrigg Common|num=1013501|access-date=29 September 2018}}</ref> Other scheduled monuments on Birkrigg are three round cairns<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Round cairn on Appleby Hill|num=1013963|access-date=29 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE|desc=Round cairn on Birkrigg Common, 520m north west of High Sunbrick Farm|num=1013965|access-date=29 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE|desc=Round cairn on Birkrigg Common, 600m north west of High Sunbrick Farm|num=1013964|access-date=29 September 2018}}</ref> and a "prehistoric enclosed hut circle settlement, an associated enclosure, and a bowl barrow".<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Prehistoric enclosed hut circle settlement, an associated enclosure, and a bowl barrow NNE of Appleby Slack|num=1013818|access-date=29 September 2018}}</ref>

Birkrigg is land common to the parishes of Aldingham and Urswick, and has been in public ownership since the sixteenth century.<ref>{{cite web|title=Commoners' Rights on Birkrigg|url=http://www.cumbria-wildlife.org.uk/Birkrigg_S_commoners.htm|publisher=Cumbria Wildlife|accessdate=14 November 2017}}</ref> Today, Birkrigg is a popular recreation site crossed by several footpaths and bridleways.<ref name="WG Walk" />

==References== {{reflist}}

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Category:Furness Category:Mountains and hills of Cumbria Category:Aldingham

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