Bowl barrow on Huggate Wold, 600m west of Horsedale Plantation

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 barrow on Huggate Wold, situated approximately 2km south west of Fridaythorpe Village, and 600m west 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 which survive in close proximity in this area, and together these form part of a much larger group of bowl barrows dispersed across Huggate Wold and Huggate Pasture. Although much altered over the years by agricultural activity which has reduced the height of the mound and spread its surface area, the barrow is still visible as a low mound no more than 0.2m high and 18m 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 500m to the north of the linear bank system of Horse Dale, and should be viewed in the context of the wider ancient landscape, where very 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 even then by agricultural operations, standing to a height of only 0.4m. A total of seven interments were found within a deep burial pit, measuring 2.75m by 1.7m, dug into the centre of the base of the mound, and later filled up with a deposit of gritty chalk. Burial one was of a middle aged male and lying crouched on its left side, with the body and head within the top of the pit and the legs flexed upon the original ground surface outside the pit edge. A second crouched inhumation of a complete, middle-aged individual was found at a depth of 0.35m, lying on its left side with the head to the west. Two fragments of an urn were found near this skeleton. Beneath skeleton two, at a depth of nearly 1m lay the third crouched inhumation, with its skull to the south west, near to which was found a common form of food vessel. Interment number four, that of a young individual, lay flexed upon its back at the same level as number three, in the western end of the grave pit. Burial number five was that of an aged female, lying flexed on the floor of the grave pit on its left side, with the head orientated to the north. To the front of this lay number six, which was the fragile skeleton of a child. Fragments of decayed, almost carbonised wood were found with the interments. The final interment, of what was thought to have been a female body, was found 2.4m from the south side at the base of the grave pit, lying crouched on its left side with the head orientated to the south west. Three more fragmented skeletons, one of two adults and a youth, were found dispersed within the body of the grave pit. Part of the encircling ditch was also uncovered during the course of the excavation, from which chalk had been quarried to form part of the barrow mound. The monument is situated in the corner of a field, with modern post and wire fences to the north west and to the south west. These, and a gate in the fence to the north west, are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them 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:

26547

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

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

End of official list entry

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