Bowl barrow in Towthorpe Plantation, 400m north west of Towthorpe High Barn

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.

The monument is one of a closely associated group of barrows within Towthorpe Plantation. The location of the modern county boundary along this line of barrows offers important insight into the antiquity of land divisions in this region.

Despite part excavation by J R Mortimer in 1882, the barrow survives in very good condition, almost to its original height, and will contain further burials and archaeological information relating to its construction.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated in Towthorpe Plantation, situated on the county boundary line between North Yorkshire and Humberside. The barrow is one of a group of seven barrows surviving in this area, five of which are in a line along the county boundary.

The barrow survives as a prominent mound up to 2.3m high and between 20m - 21m in diameter, and is surrounded by a ditch between 2m and 3m wide, which, although no longer visible at the ground level, will survive as a buried feature.

The monument was originally part of a much larger group of 21 barrows, recorded by J R Mortimer as stretching from Wharram to Sledmere in the east, and itself forms part of a chain of barrows extending along the line of the ancient greenway now known as the Wolds Way, from Aldro to Sledmere.

A slight depression in the centre of the mound summit attests to the fact that the barrow was excavated by J R Mortimer in 1882, who first discovered the crushed fragments of a food vessel without any accompanying burial.

In addition to this, a few of pieces of human bone were found in an oval grave, at the bottom of which was found another interment, that of the decayed remains of a male skeleton of middle age, lying flexed on its right side and head to the east. The right arm was doubled back with hand to the face and the left arm bent with the hand across the body. A fine bronze dagger was found at the right hip, with point towards the feet.

Traces of wood towards the base of the mound, including a piece of wood over a metre in length and about 20cm thick and an oak stake penetrating the original land surface, with a small piece of decayed bone adhering to it, also suggested the remains of a cist.

A small amount of the mound material consisted of clay brought in from Burdale and Duggleby, used to augment local material to form the central core of the mound, following which a large amount of similar clay, intermixed with local sediment, had been built up over it to complete the barrow mound.

A modern post and wire fence partly surrounds the monument on its south and east sides, and 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:

26536

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Mortimer, J R, Forty Years Researches in British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire, (1905), 6-7

Other
Humberside SMR, Sites and Monuments Records Sheet, (1994)
Bastow, M.E., AM107, (1989)
Pacitto, A.L., AM107, (1985)
Craster, OE, AM7, (1966)

End of official list entry