Reasons for Designation
Linear boundaries are substantial earthwork features comprising single or
multiple ditches and banks which may extend over distances varying between
less than 1km to over 10km. They survive as earthworks or as linear features
visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs or as a combination of both. The
evidence of excavation and study of associated monuments demonstrate that
their construction spans the millennium from the Middle Bronze Age, although
they may have been re-used later.
The scale of many linear boundaries has been taken to indicate that they were
constructed by large social groups and were used to mark important boundaries
in the landscape; their impressive scale displaying the corporate prestige of
their builders. They would have been powerful symbols, often with religious
associations, used to define and order the territorial holdings of those
groups who constructed them. Linear earthworks are of considerable importance
for the analysis of settlement and land use in the Bronze Age; all well
preserved examples will normally merit statutory protection.
Round barrows 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 examples recorded nationally (many more have already
been destroyed), occurring across most of Britain, including the Wessex area
where it is often possible to classify them more closely, for example as bowl
or bell barrows. 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 organisation amongst early prehistoric
communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a
substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of
protection.
Square barrows are funerary monuments of the Middle Iron Age, mostly dating
from the period between c.500 BC and c.50 BC. The majority of these monuments
are found between the Humber Estuary and the southern slopes of the North York
Moors, but a wider distribution has also been identified, principally through
aerial photography, spreading through the river valleys of the Midlands and
south Essex. Around 200 square barrow cemeteries have been recorded; in
addition, a further 250 sites consisting of single barrows or small groups of
barrows have been identified.
Square barrows were constructed as earthen mounds surrounded by a ditch and
covering one or more bodies. Slight banks around the outer edge of the ditch
have been noted in some examples. Despite the term 'square', barrows can vary
in shape. The majority are truly square, although many have rounded corners
and some are more rectangular in plan. A few, however, occurring both in
square barrow cemeteries and individually, are actually round in plan, but
distinguishable from earlier Bronze Age round barrows by their smaller size.
The main burial is normally central and carefully placed in a rectangular or
oval grave pit, although burials placed on the ground surface below the mound
are also known.
A number of different types of burials have been identified, accompanied by
grave goods which vary greatly in range and type. The most elaborate include
the dismantled parts of a two-wheeled vehicle placed in the grave with the
body of the deceased. Some Iron Age barrows have been associated with an
unusual burial ritual of 'spearing the corpse'.
Ploughing and intensive land use since prehistoric times have eroded and
levelled most square barrows and very few remain as upstanding monuments,
although the ditches and the grave pits, with their contents, will survive
beneath the ground surface. The different forms of burial and the variations
in the type and range of artefacts placed in the graves provide important
information on the beliefs, social organisation and material culture of these
Iron Age communities and their development over time. All examples of square
barrows which survive as upstanding earthworks, and a significant proportion
of the remainder, are considered to be of national importance and worthy of
protection.
The North York Moors is an area which has an abundance of prehistoric remains
particularly within moorland landscapes where they have not been disturbed by
more recent agricultural activity. These are evidence for the widespread
exploitation of these uplands throughout prehistory. Many remains date from
the Bronze Age (c. 2000-700 BC) and relate to diverse activities, funerary and
ritual practice as well as agriculture and settlement. For the first
millennium BC the range of evidence is more restricted. Settlement at this
time was concentrated in the lowland areas surrounding the moors, although
some settlement was located on the periphery and in the valleys. These late
prehistoric settlement sites on the higher ground are of two types: those
consisting of a small number of unenclosed hut circles and those found within
small square or sub-rectangular enclosures. Some examples of the former are
thought to date from the Bronze Age, but excavation of others and of a few of
the enclosed settlements suggests that they were occupied during the Iron Age
to the Romano-British period (c.700 BC-AD 400).
A number of late prehistoric enclosed settlements on the North York Moors
survive as upstanding monuments and these are between 0.1 and 0.5ha in area.
The enclosing earthworks are usually slight and consist of a ditch with an
internal bank, but examples are known with an external and internal bank and
with an internal ditch or no ditch at all. They are square or sub-rectangular
in shape and often have at least two rounded corners, giving a characteristic
`D'-shape. Few of these enclosed settlements have been subject to systematic
excavation but examples which have been excavated have presented evidence of
settlement, including the presence of buildings. Some of the enclosures may
also have a function as stock enclosures. Enclosed settlements are a
distinctive feature of the late prehistory of the North York Moors and are
important in illustrating the variety of enclosed settlement types which
developed in many areas of Britain at this time. Examples where a substantial
proportion of the enclosed settlement survives are considered to be nationally
important.
Hut circle settlements were the dwelling places of prehistoric farmers. The
hut circles took a variety of forms. Some are stone based and are visible as
low walls or banks enclosing a circular floor area. Others were timber
constructions and only the shallow groove in which the timber uprights used in
the wall construction stood can now be identified; this may survive as a
slight earthwork feature or may be visible on aerial photographs. Some can
only be identified by the artificial earthwork platforms created as level
stances for the houses. The number of houses in a settlement varies from
between one and twelve. In areas where they were constructed on hillslopes the
platforms on which the houses stood are commonly arrayed in tiers along the
contour of the slope. Several settlements have been shown to be associated
with organised field plots, the fields being defined by low stony banks or
indicated by groups of clearance cairns. Some unenclosed settlements are
thought to date from the Bronze Age, but excavation of others suggests that
they were also occupied during the Iron Age to the Romano-British period
(c.700 BC-AD 400). These settlements provide an important complement to the
various types of enclosed and defended settlements which were being
constructed and used around the same time. The longevity of use of hut circle
settlements and their relationship with other monument types provides
important information on the diversity of social organisation and farming
practices amongst prehistoric communities. They are particularly
representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving
examples are considered worthy of protection.
The Tabular Hills in the Wykeham Forest area contain a dense concentration of
prehistoric monuments, dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, which
includes field systems, enclosures and land boundaries as well as both round
and square barrows. The very large number of burial monuments includes
particularly rare examples of square barrows surviving as upstanding
earthworks, and these will preserve a range of evidence within and upon the
flat topped mounds which does not survive on the plough flattened examples
elsewhere. These square barrows form an important group of this monument type
which will provide valuable insight into cultural development during the Iron
Age. The spacial and chronological relationships between the round and square
barrows in the Wykeham Forest area, and between both types of barrow and other
prehistoric monuments, are of considerable importance for understanding the
development of later prehistoric society in eastern Yorkshire.
Despite limited disturbance, the Moor Dikes and Craddlegrip Dike and other
prehistoric remains survive well. Significant information will be preserved
about their date, original form and the nature and duration of their use.
Unlike many other barrows in this area, several of those within the Iron Age
barrow cemetery have not been excavated and their archaeological deposits will
survive intact. Flat graves will also survive in the areas between the barrows
within the cemetery. Evidence for earlier land use and the contemporary
environment and economy will be preserved beneath the different banks and
within the lower fills of the various ditches. The bottom of Yedman Dale will
contain waterlogged deposits which will also preserve important environmental
evidence.
The Moor Dikes and the Craddlegrip Dike belong to a network of prehistoric
boundaries, dividing the area between Troutsdale in the west and the Derwent
valley in the east. It is thought to represent a system of territorial land
division which was constructed to augment natural divisions of the landscape
by river valleys and watersheds. It is one of many such groups found on the
Tabular Hills, but it is the only instance where there are stratigraphic
relationships with associated groups of features which can be used to date the
boundaries. The relationships between the individual boundaries and between
the boundaries and the other components of the monument will provide valuable
insight into the division and use of the landscape for social, ritual and
agricultural purposes during the later prehistoric period.
Details
The monument includes three prehistoric linear boundaries situated in Wykeham
Forest, towards the northern edge of the Tabular Hills. Also included are a
round barrow, an Iron Age barrow cemetery, an enclosed prehistoric settlement,
an unenclosed hut circle settlement, two stock enclosures, four square barrows
and a pair of hollow ways, all of which are appended to, or adjacent to, the
dikes.
The north Moor Dike runs WSW to ENE between the valleys of Bee Dale and Yedman
Dale. It consists of a steep sided ditch running between two parallel banks of
earth and stone, which has an overall maximum width of 16m. At the west end
the northern bank has been almost levelled by forestry activities. At the east
end there were originally a pair of `L'-shaped parallel banks with a ditch
between on the south side of the dike and associated with it. Over the years
these have become segmented by footpaths crossing them and truncated by
ploughing at the edge of the field to the west, but fragments of the eastern
bank survive and traces of the ditch are visible at the north end.
There are a number of modern breaks in the boundary: the Great Moor Road
passes through the centre in a north to south direction and four forestry
tracks, now disused, cross the boundary in the same direction, two on each
side of the Great Moor Road. To the west of the Great Moor Road, several
modern drainage ditches also cut through both banks.
On the north side of the north Moor Dike, at the extreme western end, there is
a cemetery of Iron Age round and square barrows which also includes a Bronze
Age round barrow at the western end. The latter barrow has an earth and stone
mound which stands up to 0.8m high. It is oval in shape and measures 8m east
to west by 6m north to south. In the centre of the mound there is a hollow
caused by partial excavation in the past. The remainder of the cemetery
contains nine barrows in an approximately linear arrangement aligned on the
Moor Dike. The barrows measure between 4m and 8m across and stand between 0.3m
and 0.7m high. Two of the barrows have hollows in the centre from past
excavations, but the remainder have not been excavated. Between the barrows
there will be flat graves, which will survive as subsoil features and are not
visible above the ground.
Adjoining the south side of the north Moor Dike to the east of the cemetery
there is an enclosed settlement. It is visible as a rectilinear enclosure
aligned north west to south east at an oblique angle to the dike and measuring
about 60m north east to south west by between 40m and 60m. The enclosure is
defined on the western and southern sides by a ditch between two banks. There
is a 1m wide entrance in the southern side. The south eastern corner and the
eastern side are no longer visible as distinct earthworks, having been
levelled by forestry activities, although slight traces of the inner bank
survive. Within the enclosed area there is at least one hut circle, visible as
a 6m wide circle enclosed by a slight depression along the line of its
surrounding ditch. The settlement enclosure was constructed after the Moor
Dike since the enclosure ditch cuts the southern bank of the dike.
An unenclosed hut circle settlement lies immediately outside the enclosed
settlement on the east side. Originally there were at least four hut circles,
but only three are visible now, the remainder having been eroded or levelled
by forestry activities. The surviving hut circles are visible as penannular
ditches with entrances in the east side, surrounding a central area of 7m-8m.
Around the outer edges of the ditches there are traces of banks.
Adjoining the north side of the north Moor Dike at the eastern end is an
irregular enclosure, measuring internally approximately 330m east to west by
170m north to south, which is interpreted as a stock enclosure. It is bounded
on its eastern side by the bottom of Yedman Dale, along which now runs a
post-medieval drainage ditch, and to the north and west by a ditch with an
external bank. The northern side runs roughly parallel to the Moor Dike. In
places either the ditch or the bank, or both, are no longer visible as
earthworks, since the ditch has become infilled by soil slipping from the bank
or the bank has been levelled by forestry activities. The enclosure was
constructed after the Moor Dike since the enclosure ditch cuts the northern
bank of the dike.
Within the large enclosure, at the east end and adjoining the north Moor Dike,
there is a smaller sub-rectangular enclosure, which is also interpreted as a
stock enclosure. Internally it measures 25m east to west by 20m north to
south. On the west, north and east sides it is defined by a bank with an
external ditch. There is a 1m wide entrance in the east side. The enclosure
was also constructed after the north Moor Dike since the enclosure ditch cuts
the northern bank of the dike.
The Craddlegrip Dike runs in a north west to south east direction along the
sloping east side of Yedman Dale, a little above the bottom of the valley. At
the southern end it stops at the point where the valley slope begins to become
very steep. The boundary consists of a ditch with an earth and stone bank to
the west and has an overall maximum width of 12m. Towards the north end of the
boundary there is an opening; to the north of the opening the boundary
originally turned westwards to run towards the bottom of the valley
approximately opposite the eastern end of the north Moor Dike. However, the
corner has been truncated by post-medieval hollow ways and only the outer edge
of the ditch is visible now, although both the bank and ditch survive for 30m
beyond the corner. To the west of the corner there is an earthen bank, which
runs in a northerly direction from the northern ditch edge before curving to
the north east and this would have been a subsidiary part of the boundary.
Originally this continued for at least 50m after the bend but only 30m is
visible now, the remainder having been truncated by forestry activities. At
the south end of the dike there are two further openings. The southern opening
is about 30m wide and to the south of this, the bank has a more stony
composition. A pair of hollow ways join and pass through the more northerly
opening. The hollow ways run up the slope to the east of the dike in a NNE and
ESE direction respectively.
There are two square barrows immediately to the north of the pair of hollow
ways, situated on the gentle west facing slope down to the Craddlegrip Dike.
The first is situated 20m to the west of the northern end of the northern
hollow way and the second is situated 55m to the north east of the first. Both
barrows have flat topped earth and stone mounds which are almost square in
plan, with sides 7m in length, orientated north to south. The western barrow
mound stands up to 0.7m high and the eastern stands up to 1m high. Both were
originally surrounded by a ditch up to 2m wide; the ditch around the eastern
barrow mound has become infilled over the years by soil slipping from the
mound and is no longer visible as an earthwork, but that around the western
barrow mound survives up to 0.3m deep. Both mounds have a hollow in the
centre, which is the result of partial excavation in the past.
About 150m to the SSE of the two square barrows there is a second pair of
square barrows, both situated at the top of the west facing slope down to the
Craddlegrip Dike. The first barrow is situated 30m to the east of the dike
edge and the second is situated 20m to the south of the first. Both barrows
have flat topped earth and stone mounds which are almost square in plan,
orientated north to south. The northern barrow mound has a side 7m in length
and stands up to 1m high, and the southern has a side of 9m in length and
stands up to 1m high. Both were originally surrounded by a ditch up to 2m
wide; the ditch around the northern barrow mound has become infilled in over
the years by soil slippage and is only visible as a shallow depression to the
north and west, but that around the southern barrow mound survives up to 0.3m
deep. Both mounds have a hollow in the centre, which is the result of partial
excavation in the past.
The south Moor Dike lies about 700m to the south of the north Moor Dike on
approximately the same alignment. At the western end it terminates just below
the top of the slope into Bee Dale while at the eastern end it continues up
the slope beyond the bottom of Yedman Dale as far as the Craddlegrip Dike.
Originally it consisted of a ditch between two parallel banks of earth and
stone, which had an overall maximum width of 16m, but over the years it has
become segmented and damaged by ploughing to the west of the Great Moor Road
and by a forestry track to the east, so that in the field to the west of the
Great Moor Road only the southern edge of the southern bank survives and in
the central section only the northern bank survives. At the east end both
banks survive but the overall profile of the boundary has been modified by a
forestry track which runs along the line of the ditch.
The monument forms part of a network of prehistoric linear boundaries which is
surrounded by a dense concentration of other prehistoric monuments, including
burials and settlement.
The Great Moor Road and all other surfaced tracks, all fence posts, all field
boundary walls and the two stone bridges carrying tracks across the base of
Yedman Dale are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath
these features is included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
