Round barrow at Ridge End
List Entry Summary
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Name: Round barrow at Ridge End
List entry Number: 1008579
Location
The monument may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
County: North Yorkshire
District: Hambleton
District Type: District Authority
Parish: Boltby
County: North Yorkshire
District: Hambleton
District Type: District Authority
Parish: Cowesby
National Park: NORTH YORK MOORS
Grade: Not applicable to this List entry.
Date first scheduled: 20-Jul-1964
Date of most recent amendment: 16-Sep-1994
Legacy System Information
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System: RSM
UID: 25515
Asset Groupings
This list entry does not comprise part of an Asset Grouping. Asset Groupings are not part of the official record but are added later for information.
List entry Description
Summary of Monument
Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.
Reasons for Designation
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 this barrow has survived well. Significant
information about the original form, burials placed within it and evidence of
earlier land use beneath the mound will be preserved.
Together with adjacent barrows it is thought to represent a territorial
marker. Similar groups of monuments are also known across the north and
central areas of the North York Moors, providing important insight into burial
practice. Such groupings of monuments offer important scope for the study of
the division of land for social, ritual and agricultural purposes in different
geographical areas during the prehistoric period.
History
Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.
Details
The monument includes a round barrow on the west edge of the Hambleton Hills.
The barrow is one of many similar monuments on the Hambleton Hills.
The barrow has an earth and stone mound standing 0.9m high. It is round in
shape and 8m in diameter. The centre of the mound has been dug into in
antiquity. This mound was surrounded by a ditch up to 3m wide which has
become filled in over the years and is no longer visible as an earthwork.
A forest track clips the south east edge of the mound and there is a fence
crossing the monument along the side of this track.
It is one of many similar barrows on the Hambleton Hills. Many of these lie in
closely associated groups, particularly along watersheds. They provide
evidence of prehistoric territorial organisation marking the division of land,
divisions which still remain as some parish or township boundaries.
The fence and the surface of the road are excluded from the scheduling
although the ground beneath 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.
Selected Sources
Books and journals
Spratt, D A , 'Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology in North East Yorkshire' in Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology of North East Yorkshire, , Vol. BAR 104, (1993)
National Grid Reference: SE 48000 89010
Map
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This copy shows the entry on 21-Apr-2018 at 06:44:09.
End of official listing