Ancient Monuments

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Bowl barrow on Westwood Common, 610m north west of Blackmill

A Scheduled Monument in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 53.8422 / 53°50'31"N

Longitude: -0.4535 / 0°27'12"W

OS Eastings: 501853.231976

OS Northings: 439545.385161

OS Grid: TA018395

Mapcode National: GBR TS80.MF

Mapcode Global: WHGF4.0PBC

Entry Name: Bowl barrow on Westwood Common, 610m north west of Blackmill

Scheduled Date: 21 June 1978

Last Amended: 19 January 1996

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1013990

English Heritage Legacy ID: 26558

County: East Riding of Yorkshire

Civil Parish: Beverley

Traditional County: Yorkshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): East Riding of Yorkshire

Church of England Parish: Beverley St Mary

Church of England Diocese: York

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow on the northward side of Westwood Common,
Beverley, 120m to the south of the A1079 York - Beverley Road and 610m north
west of Blackmill. It is one of an important group of prehistoric funerary
earthworks surviving together on Westwood Common, which represents a sizeable
area of land in which prehistoric earthworks have survived because of the
establishment of common grazing rights here in the 14th century AD.
The barrow survives as a visible mound 7m in diameter and up to 0.75m in
height. It is surrounded by a ditch up to 2m wide, which although infilled
through the course of time and now no longer visible at the ground level, will
survive as a buried feature.
There is no indication that this barrow has been excavated in the past, and it
is therefore thought to survive with its burial contents intact.

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.

The monument is one of a closely associated group of prehistoric earthworks on
Westwood Common, which includes both square and round barrows, as well as
Romano-British enclosures, linear boundary dykes and a short section of Roman
road. The group has survived as part of a rare landscape characterised by
features dating back as far as the Bronze Age, which has owed its survival to
the granting of common grazing rights to the local people of Beverley in the
14th century AD. The survival of such an extensive area of earthworks is
unusual in this region of East Yorkshire, where arable agricultural practices
have resulted in the destruction of many earthwork remains of monuments above
ground. It offers important insights into ancient land use and territorial
divisions for social, ritual and agricultural purposes in this area and the
development of these through time.
As the monument has not been excavated, it will still contain primary and
secondary burials, and further archaeological information relating to its
construction.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Humberside SMR, Sites and Monuments Records Sheet, (1994)
Mackay, Rodney , (1995)

Source: Historic England

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