Details

The monument includes a round barrow situated in a prominent position at the
western end of the Eston Hills ridge. The barrow has an earth and stone mound
standing up to 2m high. It is round in shape and 28m in diameter. In the
centre of the mound there is a hollow caused by excavations in the past.
Limited excavation by E W Sockett in 1949 showed that the barrow was
originally structured around two circles of stones which defined it and
supported the mound. The inner circle was 9m in diameter and consisted of
walling up to 1m high which included three vertical stone slabs on the
north west side and a 2.5m gap on the south west side. The outer circle
consisted of a kerb of stones 5m from the edge of the mound. Three stones
belonging to the outer circle are visible on the surface of the mound. The
1949 excavation trenches were left open and stones from the inner circle are
visible within them, although many are now covered with vegetation. Within the
inner circle a large stone decorated with cup and ring marks was found
covering sherds of Beaker pottery. Towards the edge of the mound on the east
side the remains of a cist were found, consisting of stone slabs set into the
mound. This would originally have surrounded a burial and been covered by
stone slabs. Some of the vertical slabs are visible but most have been either
taken away or buried by soil slipping from the edges of the excavation.
The barrow lies in an area of extensive Bronze Age activity which includes a
hillfort and many funerary monuments.

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.

Despite limited disturbance, the barrow known as Mount Pleasant survives well.
Significant information about the original form of the barrow and the burials
placed within it will be preserved. Evidence for earlier land use will also
survive beneath the barrow mound.
Prehistoric rock art is found on natural rock outcrops in many areas of
upland Britain. It is especially common in the north of England in
Northumberland, Durham and North and West Yorkshire. The most common form of
decoration is the `cup and ring' marking, where expanses of small cup-like
hollows are pecked into the surface of the rock. These cups may be surrounded
by one or more `rings'. Single pecked lines extending from the cup through
the rings may also exist, providing the design with a `tail'. Pecked lines or
grooves can also exist in isolation from cup and ring decoration. Other
shapes and patterns also occur, but are less frequent. Carvings may occur
singly, in small groups, or may cover extensive areas of rock surface. They
date to the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age periods (2800-c.500 BC) and provide
one of our most important insights into prehistoric `art'. The exact meaning
of the designs remains unknown, but they may be interpreted as sacred or
religious symbols.
Frequently they are found close to contemporary burial monuments and the
symbols are also found on portable stones placed directly next to burials or
incorporated into burial mounds. Around 800 examples of prehistoric rock art
have been recorded in England. This is unlikely to be a realistic reflection
of the number carved in prehistory. Many will have been overgrown or
destroyed in activities such as quarrying. All positively identified
prehistoric rock art sites exhibiting a significant group of designs normally
will be identified as nationally important.
This barrow is one of several distributed along the northern and eastern
periphery of the North York Moors which include decorated cup marked stones.
As such it can be dated to the last part of the Neolithic period or Early
Bronze Age, earlier than many similar barrows found on the central moorland.
It is the only barrow within the old Cleveland county, and one of only a few
within the North York Moors and surrounding area known to have had an internal
structure.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Crawford, G M, Bronze Age Burial Mounds in Cleveland, (1980)
Smith, M J B, Excavated Bronze Age Burial Mounds of Durham and N' land., (1994)
Smith, M J B, Excavated Bronze Age Burial Mounds of Durham and N' land., (1994)
Spratt, D A , 'Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology in North East Yorkshire' in Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology of North East Yorkshire, , Vol. 87, (1993)
Vyner, B E, 'Yorkshire Archaeological Journal' in Bronze Age activity on the Eston Hills, Cleveland, , Vol. 63, (1991), 25-49

Source: Historic England