Round barrow in Broxa Forest 820m south west of Highdales

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1019464
Date first listed:: 25-Nov-1969

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1019464
Date first listed:: 25-Nov-1969
Date of most recent amendment:: 06-Oct-2000

Location

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

District:: North Yorkshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Broxa-cum-Troutsdale
National Park:: NORTH YORK MOORS
National Grid Reference:: SE 94239 92649

Reasons for Designation

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 mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus of 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 in 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, the round barrow in Broxa Forest 820m south west of Highdales has survived well. Significant information about the original form of the barrow and the burials placed within it will be preserved. Evidence for earlier land use and the contemporary environment will also survive beneath the barrow mound. The barrow is one of a group of four burial monuments and such clusters provide important insight into the development of ritual and funerary practice during the Bronze Age.

Details

The monument includes a round barrow situated on a level ridge between Hard Dale Gill and the Derwent valley, towards the western edge of Broxa Forest. The barrow has an earth and stone mound which stands up to 1m high and measures 12m in diameter. In the centre of the mound there is a hollow caused by partial excavation in 1949. This investigation uncovered the remains of two cremations and showed the barrow to have been constructed as a mound of stone on a clay platform and sealed by a dome of clay. The barrow is one of a group of four and lies in an area rich in prehistoric burial monuments. The other barrows in this group are the subject of separate schedulings

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:: 34528
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Smith, M J B, Excavated Bronze Age Burial Mounds of Durham and N' land., (1994), 147
Other
Title: Archaeological Survey Forestry Commission Areas North York Moors Source Date: 1992 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:

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.