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 on Huggate Wold.
The location of the barrows alongside an ancient greenway, and close to the
very extensive systems of dykes and hollow ways dating back to the Bronze Age,
offers important insights into ancient land use and territorial divisions for
social, ritual and agricultural purposes in this area of the Yorkshire Wolds.
Despite part excavation by J R Mortimer in 1882 and the effects of ploughing
over many years, the barrow still survives as a visible feature in the
landscape, and will contain further burials and archaeological information
relating to its construction.
Details
The monument includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow on Huggate Wold, situated
approximately 1.5km due south of Fridaythorpe Village, 460m WNW of the
western corner of Horsedale Plantation, in fields between Holm Dale to the
north east, and Horse Dale to the south. The barrow is one of a group of
several bowl barrows surviving in close proximity in this area, which together
form part of a much larger group of bowl barrows dispersed across Huggate Wold
and Huggate Pasture.
Although altered over the years by agricultural activity which has
considerably reduced the height of the mound and spread its surface, the
barrow is still visible as a low rise in the ground, up to 0.2m high and c.20m
in diameter. It is surrounded by a ditch c.3m wide which, although infilled by
ploughing and no longer visible at ground level, will survive as a buried
feature.
The monument was originally part of a larger cemetery of 20 barrows existing
adjacent to an ancient trackway, which itself is related to the ancient
greenway in the Wolds of East Yorkshire, now known as the Wolds Way. The
barrow lies around 600m to the north of the linear bank system of Horse Dale,
and should be viewed in the context of the wider ancient landscape, where
extensive systems of banks, dykes and hollow ways link large tracts of the
countryside in this area of the Yorkshire Wolds.
The barrow was partly excavated by J R Mortimer in March 1882, when it was
observed to have been much reduced in height by the effects of ploughing,
standing to a height of 0.45m, and with a diameter of 15m. Regular ploughing
since then has further reduced and spread the mound.
A deposit of burnt human bones and wood ashes was found contained within a
hole 0.9m in diameter and 0.38m deep, cut into the chalk of the original land
surface, 1.22m to the north of the mound centre. It was deduced that the burnt
bones were interred whilst still hot, owing to the reddened appearance of the
walls of the burial cut, which had then been covered with a brown, loamy clay
before raising the remainder of the mound over this.
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.
