Ancient Monuments

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Round barrow on Highwood Brow, 420m south east of Mount Misery

A Scheduled Monument in Hackness, North Yorkshire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 54.2895 / 54°17'22"N

Longitude: -0.5423 / 0°32'32"W

OS Eastings: 494984.07052

OS Northings: 489189.716405

OS Grid: SE949891

Mapcode National: GBR SLNV.D2

Mapcode Global: WHGBY.MFZY

Entry Name: Round barrow on Highwood Brow, 420m south east of Mount Misery

Scheduled Date: 4 August 1933

Last Amended: 21 March 2001

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1017104

English Heritage Legacy ID: 32504

County: North Yorkshire

Civil Parish: Hackness

Traditional County: Yorkshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): North Yorkshire

Church of England Parish: Hutton Buscell St Matthew

Church of England Diocese: York

Details

The monument includes a round barrow situated in a prominent position at the
top of the north-facing scarp edge of the Tabular Hills.
The barrow has an earth and stone mound standing up to 1m high. It is round
in shape and measures 8m in diameter, having been reduced from its original
size of around 14m by forestry ploughing. In the centre of the mound there is
a hollow caused by excavations in the past. Two forestry furrows cross the
mound in an east to west direction.
The barrow lies within a dense concentration of prehistoric burial monuments
in an area which also includes the remains of prehistoric settlement and 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.

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 Tabular Hills in the Wykeham Forest area contain a dense concentration of
prehistoric monuments, dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, which
includes field systems, enclosures and land boundaries as well as both round
and square barrows. The spatial and chronological relationships between the
round and square barrows in this area, and between both types of barrow and
other prehistoric monuments, are of considerable importance for understanding
the development of later prehistoric society in eastern Yorkshire.
Despite limited disturbance, the round barrow on Highwood Brow, 420m south
east of Mount Misery survives well. Significant information about the original
form of the barrow and the burials placed within it will be preserved.
Evidence for earlier land use will also survive beneath the barrow mound.
The barrow is one of at least eight burial monuments grouped along the top of
Highwood Brow and such clusters provide important insight into the development
of ritual and funerary practice during the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Lee, G E, Wykeham Archaeological Survey, (1991)
Other
Title: Ordnance Survey 2nd Edition 25" sheet 77/9
Source Date: 1928
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England

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