Details

The monument includes a round barrow situated on a gentle north facing slope
on the north edge of the North York Moors.
The barrow has a well defined earth and stone mound standing up to 0.8m high.
It is round in shape and measures 19m in diameter. It was originally
surrounded by a kerb of stones which defined the barrow and supported the
mound. However, over the years many of these stones have been taken away or
buried by soil slipping off the mound and none are visible now. In the centre
of the mound there are several hollows caused by excavations in the past.
The barrow lies in an area rich in prehistoric monuments, including further
barrows, field systems and clearance cairns.

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 disturbance, significant information about the original form of the
barrow 520m south of Freebrough Farm and the burials placed within it
will be preserved. Evidence for earlier land use will also survive beneath the
barrow mound. This barrow is important in view of its proximity to a number of
other funerary and ritual monuments. This type of association provides
evidence for the diversity of Bronze Age ritual activity in this area. The
barrow is situated within a group of prehistoric monuments which also includes
clearance cairns and an unenclosed hut circle settlement. Monument groups such
as these offer important scope for the study of the distribution of
prehistoric activity across the landscape.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Crawford, G M, Bronze Age Burial Mounds in Cleveland, (1980)
Hayes, R H, 'Transactions of Scarborough District Archaeological Society' in A small rectangular embanked enclosure on Moorsholm Moor, , Vol. 2.10, (1967), 27-28
Spratt, D A , 'Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology in North East Yorkshire' in Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology of North East Yorkshire, , Vol. 87, (1993)

Source: Historic England