Details

The monument includes the buried and earthwork remains of a large prehistoric
burial mound 690m north west of Horseshoe Pond.
The round barrow survives as a broad mound 20m in diameter standing up to 1m
high. It is one of a group of four Bronze Age round barrows surviving as
upstanding earthworks on Skipwith Common. Centred 1km to the west, there is a
square barrow cemetery of Iron Age date which also survives as upstanding
earthworks.

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 barrow 690m north west of Horseshoe Pond, one of a group of barrows in
Skipwith Common, survives well as it has escaped disturbance from intensive
agriculture which has affected the majority of sites in this region.
Excavations of similar sites elsewhere have shown that round barrows
demonstrate a wide range of burial rites from simple scatters of cremated
material to coffin inhumations and cremations contained in urns, typically
dating to the Bronze Age. A common factor is that barrows were normally used
for more than one burial and that the primary burial was frequently on or
below the original ground surface, often with secondary burials located within
the body of the mound. Most barrows include a small number of grave goods.
These are often small pottery food vessels, but stone, bone, jet and bronze
items have also occasionally been found.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Elgee, F, The Archaeology of Yorkshire, (1933)
Other
Typescript report, MAP Archaeological Consultancy, Skipwith Common Presentation Survey, (1995)

Source: Historic England