Round barrow 190m south east of Cliffe Hall

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1016264
Date first listed:: 23-Jul-1963

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1016264
Date first listed:: 23-Jul-1963
Date of most recent amendment:: 24-Sep-1997

Location

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

District:: North Yorkshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Cliffe
National Grid Reference:: NZ 20881 15151

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 of the barrow and the burials placed within it will be preserved. Evidence of earlier land use will also survive beneath the barrow mound. The barrow lies near to a second barrow to the north east, the subject of a seperate scheduling (SM 29523). Both these barrows were part of a wider group of barrows in the area and have survived the action of farming as they lie in uncultivated parkland. Thus these barrows represent a rare level of survival and will offer important information about the social and ritual practices of a wider area in the prehistoric period.

Details

The monument includes a round barrow situated on a bluff to the south of the River Tees at Piercebridge. The barrow has a flat topped earth and stone mound standing 1.8m high. It is round in shape and measures 22 in diameter. The mound was originally surrounded by a quarry ditch up to 3m wide, although this has been infilled over the years and is no longer visible as an earthwork.

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:: 29524
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Other
SMR Record entry, (1994)

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.