Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow which is one of several situated on the
south eastern spur of Deepdale Wold. This barrow also lies 50m east of the
later Roman road between Malton and Brough; the distribution of Neolithic and
Bronze Age burial mounds parallel to the road is evidence that the Romans were
continuing to use an established prehistoric route across the Wolds.

Although altered by agricultural activity, the barrow is still visible as a
flinty mound 1m high and 25m in diameter, its height being accentuated by its
location on a slight natural rise. A ditch of 28m diameter surrounds the
mound and, although it has become infilled over the years and is no longer
visible at ground level, this ditch has been identified on aerial photographs.
The barrow was recorded and partially excavated by J R Mortimer in 1864 and
again in 1868; two graves, each about 0.5m deep and containing two burials,
were found along with a burial placed beneath the mound on a stone floor.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments
dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most
examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as
earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple
burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often
acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar,
although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form
and a diversity of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl
barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring
across most of lowland Britain. Often occupying prominent locations, they are
a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable
variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important
information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of
protection.

Although this barrow has been partially altered by agricultural activity, it
is still visible and was also comparatively well documented during a campaign
of fieldwork in the 19th century. Further evidence of the structure of the
mound, the surrounding ditch, grave pits and burials will survive.

The monument is one of a closely associated group of barrows which have
further associations with broadly contemporary boundary earthworks in the
vicinity of Hanging Grimston. Similar groups of monuments are also known from
other parts of the Wolds and from the southern edge of the North York Moors.
Such associations between monuments offer important scope for the study of the
division of land for social, ritual and agricultural purposes in different
geographical areas during the prehistoric period. Additionally, some of the
barrows in the Hanging Grimston area are distributed parallel to a line later
adopted by a Roman road; this distribution implies a degree of continuity of
land divisions from at least the Early Bronze Age into the Roman period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Mortimer, J R , Forty Years Researches in British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire, (1905)
Other
Stoertz C, RCHME unpublished survey (1992), 1992,

Source: Historic England