Details

The monument includes a square barrow situated in a prominent position on the
west edge of the Hambleton Hills overlooking the Vale of the Ure.
The barrow has an earth and stone mound standing 0.6m high. It is roughly
square in shape with slightly curved sides and sharply rounded corners; it
measures 6.5m across. The centre of the mound has been dug into in the past
leaving a large hollow. The mound is surrounded by a ditch 1m wide and 0.3m
deep.
It lies in close proximity to a group of round barrows and a prehistoric
linear boundary system.

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

Square barrows are funerary monuments of the Middle Iron Age, most examples
dating from the period between c.500 BC and c.50 BC. The majority of these
monuments are found in the area between the River Humber and the southern
slopes of the North Yorkshire Moors but a wider distribution has also been
identified, principally through aerial photography, spreading through the
river valleys of the Midlands and south Essex. Around 200 square barrow
cemeteries have been recorded; in addition, a further 250 sites consisting of
single barrows or small groups of barrows have been identified.
Square barrows, which may be square or rectangular, were constructed as
earthen mounds surrounded by a ditch and covering one or more bodies. Slight
banks around the outer edge of the ditch have been noted in some examples. The
main burial is normally central and carefully placed in a rectangular or oval
grave pit, although burials placed on the ground surface below the mound are
also known.
A number of different types of burial have been identified, accompanied by
grave goods which vary greatly in range and type. The most elaborate include
the dismantled parts of a two-wheeled vehicle placed in the grave with the
body of the deceased.
Ploughing and intensive land use since prehistoric times have eroded and
levelled most square barrows and very few remain as upstanding monuments,
although the ditches and the grave pits, with their contents, will survive
beneath the ground surface. The different forms of burial and the variations
in the type and range of artefacts placed in the graves provide important
information on the beliefs, social organisation and material culture of these
Iron Age communities and their development over time. All examples of square
barrows which survive as upstanding earthworks, and a significant proportion
of the remainder, are considered of national importance and worthy of
protection.

This square barrow survives well as an upstanding earthwork and is one of the
most northerly examples of this monument class yet identified. It is
associated with a group of burial monuments of an earlier date and will
contribute to the study of changing burial practices in the prehistoric
period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
(1972)

Source: Historic England