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Four round barrows 850m west of Cowl House

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1010337
Date first listed:: 29-Oct-1968

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1010337
Date first listed:: 29-Oct-1968
Date of most recent amendment:: 10-Nov-1994

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: North Yorkshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Bilsdale Midcable
National Park:: NORTH YORK MOORS
National Grid Reference:: SE 60734 96810

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.

All these barrows have survived well and significant information about the original form, burials placed within them and evidence of earlier land use beneath the mounds will be preserved. Together with adjacent barrows, they are thought to be territorial markers. Similar groups of monuments are also known across the northern 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.

Details

The monument includes four adjacent round barrows situated in a prominent position on the southern end of Bransdale Ridge. The three most southerly barrows are contiguous mounds orientated north-south, the fourth lying separately 10m to the north west. Of the trio of barrows, the most southerly has an earth and stone mound 5m in diameter and 0.75m high. The central barrow has an earth and stone mound 5m in diameter and 1.2m high. The northern barrow has an earth and stone mound 6m in diameter and 0.9m high. All these mounds were each surrounded by a ditch up to 3m wide which has become filled-in over the years and is no longer visible as an earthwork. The northern barrow has an earth and stone mound standing 0.6m high. It is round in shape and 9m in diameter. The centre of this 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. There are many similar barrows on this area of the Hambleton Hills. Many of these lie in closely associated groups, particularly along the watersheds. They provide evidence of territorial organisation marking divisions of land; divisions which still remain as some parish or township boundaries.

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.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 25540
Legacy System:: RSM

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), 116-20
Spratt, D A , 'Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology in North East Yorkshire' in Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology of North East Yorkshire, , Vol. BAR 104, (1993), 116-20
Spratt, D A , 'Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology in North East Yorkshire' in Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology of North East Yorkshire, , Vol. BAR 104, (1993), 116-20

Legal

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.