Round barrow at northern edge of Snotterdale Plantation

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1012736
Date first listed:: 24-Oct-1968

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1012736
Date first listed:: 24-Oct-1968
Date of most recent amendment:: 26-Jul-1995

Location

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

District:: North Yorkshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Whorlton
National Park:: NORTH YORK MOORS
National Grid Reference:: NZ 50905 01207

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. The barrows are associated with a later prehistoric linear boundary system which divided the terrain into discrete units, formalising the divisions created by the barrows. 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 a round barrow situated on a gentle slope on the northern edge of the North York Moors. The barrow has an earth and stone mound standing up to 0.75m high. It is round in shape and 3m in diameter and was surrounded by a ditch up to 3m wide. A modern plantation wall crosses the southern part of the monument. There are many similar barrows in 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. There is a stone wall crossing the monument which 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.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:: 26920
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), 116-123

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.