Leaf Howe round barrow

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.

Leaf Howe round barrow is a rare example of its type because it is undisturbed. Excavation of other round barrows in the region has shown that they demonstrate a very wide range of burial rites from simple scatters of cremated material to coffin inhumations and cremations contained in urns, typically dating to the Bronze Age. A common factor is that barrows were normally used for more than one burial and that the primary burial was frequently on or below the original ground surface, often with secondary burials located within the body of the mound. Most barrows include a small number of grave goods. These are often small pottery food vessels, but stone, bone, jet and bronze items have also occasionally been found. Shallow ditches and/or stone kerbs immediately encircling the mounds are also quite common.

Details

The monument includes the buried and earthwork remains of a prehistoric burial mound located just south of the summit of Wrelton Moor, immediately west of the ruins of Leaf Howe House. Leaf Howe round barrow is a large and prominent mound 27m in diameter and 1.8m high. Its profile shows no evidence of antiquarian excavation and is considered to be undisturbed. A second smaller barrow, Old Wife's Mound, lies 250m to the NNW and is the subject of a separate scheduling.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 4 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:

30150

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Ordinance Survey record card, SE 79 SE 16, (1973)

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