Details

The monument includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow on Huggate Wold, situated
approximately 1.5km due south of Fridaythorpe Village and 700m north west of
Horsedale Plantation, in fields between Holm Dale to the north east, and Horse
Dale to the south. The barrow is one of a group of six barrows surviving in
close proximity in this area, which together form part of a much larger group
of bowl barrows dispersed across Huggate Wold and Huggate Pasture.
Although altered over the years by agricultural activity which has reduced the
height of the mound and spread its surface, the barrow is still visible as a
low mound up to 0.25m in height and 23m in diameter. It is surrounded by a
ditch up to 3m wide which, although infilled by ploughing and no longer
visible at ground level, will survive as a buried feature.
The monument was originally part of a larger cemetery of 20 barrows existing
adjacent to an ancient trackway, which itself is related to the ancient
greenway in the Wolds of East Yorkshire, now known as the Wolds Way. The
barrow cemetery lies around 800m to the north of the linear bank system of
Horse Dale, and Holm Dale to the east, and should therefore be viewed in the
context of the wider ancient landscape, where very extensive systems of banks,
dykes and hollow ways link large tracts of the countryside in this area of the
Yorkshire Wolds.
The barrow was partly excavated by J R Mortimer in March 1882, and was
observed to have been much reduced in height and dispersed by the effects of
ploughing even then, when it stood to a height of 0.45m. The site of a
fire at the raising of the mound was inferred by the presence of reddened and
blackened deposits representing the original land surface under the eastern
half of the barrow mound. Calcined human bones from more than one individual
mixed with burnt chalk and fire reddened sediment were found 2.4m east of the
mound centre, occupying an area over 1m across, extending from the base of the
mound upward to the summit. Beyond this area, barrow mound material consisting
of chalk rubble and surface sediment had been burnt and reddened by fire,
suggesting that it had been heaped upon the remains of the funeral pyre.
The skeleton of a large adult male, with hands to either side of its head, lay
upon the original land surface at the centre of the mound. The body lay flexed
upon its back, with knees bent and heels to hips, a position considered
unusual. A black flint knife lay to the right of the skull, point down.
A heap of burnt adult bones had been deposited beneath and to one side of the
the right knee.
An oval-shaped grave lay 0.6m to the west of this skeleton, measuring 0.75m by
0.5m and 1m in depth. The grave contained some chalk rubble, burnt sediment
and pieces of carbonised wood. No evidence of any interment was discovered.
The barrow mound was found to consist mainly of chalk grit and sediment,
containing fragments of unburnt human skull and long bones.

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 monument is one of a closely associated group of barrows on Huggate Wold.
The location of the barrows alongside an ancient greenway, and close to the
very extensive systems of dykes and hollow ways dating back to the Bronze Age,
offers important insights into ancient land use and territorial divisions for
social, ritual and agricultural purposes in this area of the Yorkshire Wolds.
Despite part excavation by J R Mortimer in 1882 and the effects of
ploughing over many years, the barrow still survives as a visible feature in
the landscape, and will contain further burials and archaeological information
relating to its construction.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Mortimer, J R , Forty Years Researches in British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire, (1905)

Source: Historic England