Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow which is one of a number of barrows
situated on the northern edge of East Heslerton Wold.
Although altered by agricultural activity, the barrow is still visible as a
mound 0.5m high and 20m in diameter. A 12m wide ditch surrounds the mound and,
although it has been largely infilled by the spreading of the mound material,
this is still visible as a slight hollow and has also been identified on
aerial photographs. The barrow was partially excavated by the 19th century
antiquarian, Canon Greenwell; although he noted some previous disturbances of
one burial, an undisturbed grave of a child was also discovered in a 0.5m deep
pit.

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 clearly visible as an earthwork and was also documented during a
campaign of fieldwork in the 19th century. Further evidence of the structure
of the mound, the surrounding ditch and the burials in deep grave pits 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 East Heslerton Wold. 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.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Kinnes, I A, Longworth, I H, The Greenwell Collection, (1985), 33
Other
Stoertz, K, (1992)

Source: Historic England