Northern of two round barrows in Dalby Forest known as the Brown Howes

Overview

Heritage Category: Scheduled Monument

List Entry Number: 1020587

Date first listed: 24-Apr-2002

Location

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

National Park: NORTH YORK MOORS

National Grid Reference: SE 89708 90837

Summary

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

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 northern of two round barrows in Dalby Forest known as the Brown Howes 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 pair of burial monuments. Such clusters provide important insight into the development of ritual and funerary practice during the Bronze Age. The pair are situated within an area which includes other groups of burial monuments as well as networks of prehistoric land boundaries. Associated groups of monuments such as these offer important scope for the study of the distribution of prehistoric activity across the landscape.

History

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Details

The monument includes a round barrow which is situated in a prominent position towards the top of a south west facing slope overlooking the valley of Tom Milner's Grain, close to the northern scarp edge of the Tabular Hills. The barrow has a well-defined earthen mound which stands up to 2m high and has a maximum diameter of 30m. Partial excavation in the past has left a hollow in the centre of the mound. On its southern edge the mound has been disturbed by a square hole which measures 4m across. The round barrow lies in an area in which there are many other prehistoric monuments, including further barrows and the remains of prehistoric land division.

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: 35160

Legacy System: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Northern Archaeological Associates, , North York Moors Forest Survey Phase Two, (1996)

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 Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.