Details

The monument includes two round barrows one lying 40m north east of the other
situated in a prominent position on the north of the Hambleton Hills. Also
included is the archaeologically sensitive area between the barrows where flat
graves are likely to survive.
The barrows each have an earth and stone mound which is round in shape. The
south west mound is 10m in diameter and 0.5m high and the north east mound is
14m in diameter and 0.9m high.
Each of the mounds 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 are other similar barrows on this area of the Hambleton Hills. Many of
these lie in closely associated groups, particularly along the watersheds.
They provide evidence of territorial organisation marking divisions of land;
divisions which still remain as some parish or township boundaries.

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.

These two barrows survive well and retain significant information about
their original form, burials placed within them and evidence of earlier land
use beneath the mounds will be preserved.
Together with other barrows in the area barrows they are thought to also
represent territorial markers. 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

Sources

Books and journals
Spratt, D A, 'Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology of North East Yorkshire' in Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology of North East Yorkshire, (1992), 98-122

Source: Historic England