Details

The monument includes a round barrow situated on a natural rise in undulating
ground overlooking the sea to the east. It is one of a group of similar
monuments lying between the sea and the predominantly heather covered moorland
characteristic of the North York Moors lying to the west. The area has been
improved and brought into agricultural use, however it is known that the
prehistoric period saw intensive use of the land for agricultural and ritual
purposes. Remains of these activities survive today.
The barrow has an earth and stone mound standing 0.2m high and measuring 20m
in diameter. The mound was surrounded by a ditch up to 3m wide which has been
filled in and is no longer visible as an earthwork. The barrow mound was
originally higher but has been reduced by agricultural activity over the years
and now only survives as a low mound.
The stone wall which crosses the monument is excluded from the scheduling,
although the ground beneath it is included.

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.

Although reduced by agricultural activity the round barrow 360m west of Tofta
Farm has survived reasonably well and significant information about the
original construction of the barrow, the burials placed beneath it and its
relationship with other monuments in the area will be preserved. Evidence of
earlier land use will also survive beneath the barrow mound.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Smith, M J B, Excavated Bronze Age Burial Mounds of Durham and N' land., (1994), 1-32

Source: Historic England