Details

The monument includes the buried and earthwork remains of a round barrow cemetery and the area between the individual barrows in which unmarked burials and other archaeological remains may survive.The monument is located on level ground on the eastern side of Howdale Moor.This is the easternmost extent of the sandstone,heather covered moor characteristic of the North York Moors.Today the moor is little used but archaeological evidence indicates that this has not always been the case.The prehistoric period in particular saw extensive agricultural use of the area.It was also used for burials and activities associated with the carving of patterns on exposed rock.Remains of these activities survive today.The cemetery includes at least eight barrows and occupies an area approximately 150m by 140m.The barrows have an earth and stone mound measuring up to 6m in diameter and up to 0.5m in height.Each barrow mound is surrounded by a ditch up to 3m wide which has been filled in and is no longer visible as an earthwork.

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

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age(c.2000-700 BC).They comprise closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows-rubble or earthen mounds covering single or multiple burials.Most cemeteries developed over a considerable period of time,often many centuries,and in some cases acted as a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period.They exhibit considerable diversity of burial rite,plan and form,frequently including several different types of round barrow,occasionally associated with earlier long barrows.Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them,contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been revealed.Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain,with a marked concentration in Wessex.In some cases,they are clustered around other important contemporary monuments such as henges.Often occupying prominent locations,they are a major historic element in the modern landscape,whilst their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities.They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.The round barrow cemetery 440m west of Brickyard Cottage has survived well and significant information about the original form of the barrows,any burials placed within them and the relationship with other monuments in the area will be preserved.Evidence of earlier land use will also survive beneath the mounds.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Smith, M J B, Excavated Bronze Age Burial Mounds of North East Yorkshire, (1997), 1-38

Source: Historic England