Details

The monument includes a round barrow situated in an unusual position on the
west flank of the Hambleton Hills overlooking the Vale of the Ure. It stands
on a small platform partly cut into the steep west facing hillside.
The barrow has a well defined earth and stone mound standing 1.7m high. It is
round in shape and is 12m in diameter. A narrow berm 0.5m wide surrounds the
mound. The centre of the mound has been dug into in the past.
It is one of many similar barrows on this area of the Hambleton Hills. Many of
these lie in closely associated groups, particulary along the watersheds. They
provide evidence of territorial organisation marking divisions of land,
divisions which still remain as some parish or township boundaries.

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.

Despite limited disturbance this barrow has survived well. Significant
information about the original form, burials placed within it and evidence of
earlier land use beneath the mound will be preserved. It is a rare and unusual
example of a barrow located on a steep hillside; to facilitate this a small
platform on which it could be located was cut into the slope. Barrows in this
area are generally on the edge of higher ground. The reasons why such an
unusual location was chosen for this monument remain unknown, although it is
part of a wider group of barrows on this part of the Hambleton Hills thought
to mark a prehistoric boundary. Similar groups of monuments are also known
across the north and central areas of the North York Moors providing important
insight into burial practices. Such groupings of 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.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Spratt, D A , 'Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology in North East Yorkshire' in Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology of North East Yorkshire, , Vol. BAR 104, (1993)

Source: Historic England