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Hanging Grimston barrow group: a bowl barrow 200m west of Wold Farm

A Scheduled Monument in Thixendale, North Yorkshire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 54.0374 / 54°2'14"N

Longitude: -0.7781 / 0°46'41"W

OS Eastings: 480121.8313

OS Northings: 460845.882603

OS Grid: SE801608

Mapcode National: GBR RP0R.BG

Mapcode Global: WHFBW.0SR7

Entry Name: Hanging Grimston barrow group: a bowl barrow 200m west of Wold Farm

Scheduled Date: 17 December 1929

Last Amended: 9 March 1994

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1007920

English Heritage Legacy ID: 20567

County: North Yorkshire

Civil Parish: Thixendale

Traditional County: Yorkshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): North Yorkshire

Church of England Parish: Kirby Underdale All Saints

Church of England Diocese: York

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow which is one of several situated on
Deepdale Wold. This barrow lies 75m east of an old track known as Gatehowe
Road; "-howe" probably alludes to the burial mounds in the vicinity of the
track.

Although altered by agricultural activity, the barrow is still visible as a
mound 0.5m high and 45m in diameter. A ditch of 21m diameter surrounds the
mound and, although it has been buried by the gradual spreading of the mound
material, this ditch has been identified on aerial photographs. The barrow
was recorded and partially excavated by J R Mortimer in 1867; a 0.6m deep
grave pit contained a cremation burial.

The surface of the road is excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath
is included.

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.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

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.

Although the barrow has been partially altered by agricultural activity, it is
still clearly visible and was also comparatively well-documented during a
campaign of fieldwork in the 19th century. Further evidence of the structure
of the mound, the surrounding ditch, grave pits and burials will survive.

The monument is one of a closely associated group of barrows which have
further associations with broadly contemporary boundary earthworks in the
vicinity of Hanging Grimston. Similar groups of monuments are also known from
other parts of the Wolds and from the southern edge of the North York Moors.
Such associations between monuments offer important scope for the study of the
division of land for social, ritual and agricultural purposes in different
geographical areas during the prehistoric period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Mortimer, J R , Forty Years Researches in British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire, (1905)
Other
Stoertz C, RCHME unpublished survey (1992), 1992,

Source: Historic England

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