More information : [NZ 71011143] Robin Hood Butts [NR]
(1)
("A") A henge-type circle, its bank 89 feet in diameter, 18 ft to
20 ft in width and up to three feet in height (NZ 71031141), lies to
the southeast of the barrow ("B" - NZ 71021143). There is an upright
stone on the inside of the bank on the SW side.
(2)
("B") A tumulus 37 feet in diameter and about three feet in height
was excavated by Atkinson in November 1863. Near it was a circular
bank ("A"), 82 feet in diameter, 16 feet broad on one side and 24
feet broad on the opposite side, though the crest of the bank here
may have been thrown outwards. The tumulus had been opened before
but Atkinson found two urns in the northern half of the mound.
One, in the NW quadrant, had been inverted over a deposit of charcoal
placed in a hole in the natural soil eight inches in diameter and
12 inches in depth. It was of coarse ware and less than nine inches
in height. Towards the top of the hole a fragment of a quartz
axe-hammer was found with a burnt porphry arrow-head. The other urn
was found nearer the centre of the barrow, but no more that 15 inches
below its surface, and had been inverted amongst a deposit of sand
and charcoal. It was nine inches in height by seven inches across its
mouth and was decorated round its rim with panels of twisted cord
impressions. Below its rim the ornament was of plain diagonal
strokes. Beside it lay a reddish flint spearhead and two burnt flint
flakes.
(3)
'A' ... Elgees 'earth ring' is an embanked circular enclosure
measuring from crest-to-crest 18.0m N-S and 16.5m E-W. The bank has
a constant width of 6.6m (except in the E where it is spread to
7.7m) and a height of 0.8m and appears to have been formed by
scooping outwards from the centre of the enclosure which has a
'dished' appearance internally. There is a single boulder against
the inside of the bank on the SW side, but no indication of stone
elsewhere. There is neither a ditch nor an entrance and it is
clearly not a henge. The work is also too substantial to be
compared with enclosed cremation cemeteries or disc barrows and it
is unlikely to belong to either category, though without excavation
no certain identification is possible.
'B' ... NZ 71011143 A heather-covered barrow 11.0m in diameter and
0.8m high. Slightly robbed at the centre.
Published survey (25") revised.
(4)
NZ 7102 1143. Robin Hood Butts Central/NYM 31 in corpus. The urns
are i) Primary Series, NW Style, Form II and ii) Secondary Series,
SE Style, Form IC. (Longworth 1118 and 1119).
(5)
Two Bronze Age round barrows were also mapped as part of the North York Moors National Park NMP project, visible as earthworks on air photographs. The larger of the two is centred at NZ 7104 1142 and has a maximum diameter measuring approximately 25m with a probable prospection pit of uncertain date dug into its centre. The barrow is one of several situated on Gerrick Moor and known as Robin Hood’s Butts (UID 29135, 29138, 29162). The smaller of the two barrows is situated to the immediate north-west at NZ 7102 1143 and has a maximum diameter measuring approximately 10m. Both barrows appear to be extant on the latest 2009 vertical photography.
(7) |