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Latitude: 54.2959 / 54°17'45"N
Longitude: -1.2625 / 1°15'45"W
OS Eastings: 448094.940183
OS Northings: 489172.195141
OS Grid: SE480891
Mapcode National: GBR MLMR.GS
Mapcode Global: WHD8B.L900
Entry Name: Round barrow 800m south of Gallow Hill
Scheduled Date: 20 July 1964
Last Amended: 16 September 1994
Source: Historic England
Source ID: 1008578
English Heritage Legacy ID: 25514
County: North Yorkshire
Civil Parish: Cowesby
Traditional County: Yorkshire
Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): North Yorkshire
The monument includes a round barrow on the west edge of the Hambleton
Hills. The barrow is one of many similar monuments on the Hambleton Hills.
The barrow has an earth and stone mound standing 0.9m high. It was originally
round in shape but a forestry road has cut away the east side so that the
mound is now 8.5m across north-south and 6m east-west. The centre of the mound
has been dug into in antiquity. This mound was surrounded by a ditch up to
3m wide which has become filled in over the years and is no longer visible as
an earthwork. There is a fence crossing the monument along the side of the
forestry road.
It is one of many similar barrows on the Hambleton Hills. Many of these lie in
closely associated groups, particularly along watersheds. They provide
evidence of prehistoric territorial organisation marking the division
of land; divisions which still remain as some parish or township boundaries.
The fence and the surface of the road are excluded from the scheduling
although the ground beneath is included.
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
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 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.
Together with adjacent barrows it is thought to represent a territorial
marker. Similar groups of monuments are also known across the north and
central areas of the North York Moors, providing important insight into burial
practice. 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
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
Other nearby scheduled monuments