Details

The monument includes buried and earthwork remains of a large prehistoric
burial mound. The barrow is the easternmost of a group of four prominent round
barrows known as Three Howes. The round barrow is prominently sited on top of
a broad, south east pointing spur of Blakey Ridge, overlooking Spaunton Moor
to the south, and Rosedale to the north and east. The barrow is sited on a
slight natural rise about 0.5m above the surrounding general ground surface,
just south east of the highest point on the spur. It is one of the three
barrows in the group which can be easily seen on the skyline from a wide area.
It appears to be mainly of earthen construction with very little stone
observable and no evidence of an outer kerbing. It is a 24m diameter mound,
2.5m high, with a 5m diameter central excavation hollow up to 1m deep, and
with spoil forming a slight mound on the barrow's south west flank. Although
there is no obvious ditch visible around the barrow, a 3m margin has been
included to allow for its likely survival. This is because excavations of
other examples in the region have shown that, even where no encircling
depression is discernible on the modern ground surface, ditches immediately
around the outside of the mound frequently survive as infilled features,
containing additional archaeological deposits.

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

Round barrows 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 mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered
single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as
cemeteries and often acted as a focus of 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 examples recorded nationally (many more have already
been destroyed), occurring across most of Britain, including the Wessex area
where it is often possible to classify them more closely, for example as bowl
or bell barrows. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major
historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation in
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.

Excavations of round barrows in the region have shown that they 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.
Three Howes are an important and well preserved group of four barrows.
Although the easternmost barrow has been partly excavated, most of its
original volume survives undisturbed and will contain valuable archaeological
information, typically including the primary and other secondary burials.

Source: Historic England