Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow known as Brown Rigg Howe on Beacon
Hill, Danby. Inserted into the top of the mound is a World War II searchlight
emplacement.

The barrow mound stands 1.5m high and measures 16m in diameter. It was
constructed of earth and stone. Inserted into the top of the mound is a
concrete platform, still visible beneath the overgrowth on the south east side
and a metal plate bolted into it in the centre 0.9m square. Four triangular
plates at each quadrant, 1m from this plate, are the foundations for a
circular monorail which is now missing.

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.

The bowl barrow known as Brown Rigg Howe survives well in spite of the
intrusion of the concrete emplacement on its top. The concrete offers good
protection for the remains below.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Hayes, R H, Old Roads and Pannierways in North East Yorkshire, (1988), 22

Source: Historic England