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WILLIE HOWE

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DESCRIPTION

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A very large round barrow still extant as an earthwork mound 7.5 metres high (15 metres according to the scheduled description) and up to 50 metres across, surrounded by a ditch visible as a surface depression 20 metres wide and up to 1.5 metres deep. The mound has been dug into on two occasions, the first in 1857 by Lord Londesborough when nothing deemed noteworthy was found. It was re-excavated by Greenwell in 1887. Among his discoveries was a slab of stone bearing an inscription commemmorating the previous excavation. At the centre, beneath the mound, Greenwell found what he described as an oval grave, measuring 4 feet by 2 feet 8 inches, and 12 feet 4 inches deep, filled with chalk and earth throughout, though Greenwell was able to discern a sequence of fills. At the bottom was a further, smaller pit 1 foot 4 inches by 11 inches, and 1 foot deep. The only finds from anywhere in the fill the pit or shaft were 4 fragments of animal bone, plus five "chippings and a flake of flint". The lack of human remains and the absence of any indication of previous disturbance puzzled Greenwell, who speculated that the site may have been a "cenotaph". The access ramp constructed to facilitate Greenwell's excavations is still visible as an earthwork. A coin of Constantine was reportedly found on the top of the mound in circa 1930. It has also been suggested that the mound was used as a Thing, or meeting place, during the Early Medieval period. Some Mesolithic flints are provenanced to "Willy Howe", but it is presumed that they were found in the vicinity of the mound, rather than from the mound itself.

DETAIL

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MORE INFORMATION & SOURCES

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(TA 06167235) Willy Howe (Tumulus) (NR). (1)

Willy How is the second largest round barrow in E Yorks. It is about 60 yards in diameter and 24' high. It was opened without result in 1857 by Lord Londesborough, who left a record inscribed on a stone slab, giving the name as 'Willie How'. Greenwell reopened it in 1887 and at the centre found an oval grave sunk 12' into the chalk. The grave was undisturbed but contained no burial. Greenwell concluded the barrow was a Cenotaph. (2-3)

Coins of Constantine reported found c1930 on top of Willy Howe, by Mr J Hick, a reputable observer and fellow of the local naturalist group. Not visited. (4)

Willy Howe, Round Barrow, covered by trees, August 1957. (5)

Published survey (25") revised. (6)

Mesolithic flint implements from Willy Howe Barrow. (7)

Additional reference. (8)

TA 0616 7234. Willy Howe round barrow. Scheduled RSM No 21190.
The barrow mound is 15m high, 40m wide east-west and 50m long north-south. The mound has a visible central hollow 10m deep, 25m long and 7m wide, the result of 19th century excavations. During these
excavations, earth was cast out from the N end of the mound to form
an access ramp leading to the mound. This is 7m long and 5m wide.
The barrow is surrounded by a heavily silted ditch visible as a depression 20m wide and up to 1.5m deep. It has been suggested that
the mound was reused in the early Middle Ages as a Thing mound. (9)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1913

( 2) Society of Antiquaries of London Archaeologia : or miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquity

Greenwell, W. Recent researches in Barrows in Yorkshire, Wiltshire, Berksgire, etc. 52, 1890 Page(s)1-72

( 3) Annotated Record Map

Corr 6" & Card (N Mitchelson udtd)

( 4) Annotated Record Map

Corr 6" & Notes (TCM Brewster 13.1.1954)

( 5) Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments

( 6) Field Investigators Comments

F1 DS 10-DEC-69

( 7) edited by J J Wymer and C J Bonsall 1977 Gazetteer of Mesolithic sites in England and Wales, with a gazetteer of Upper Palaeolithic sites in England and Wales

CBA research reportsVol.1 (1955)- 20 Page(s)350

( 8) Royal Archaeological Institute The Archaeological Journal

125, 1968 Page(s)321

(9) Scheduled Monument Notification

English Heritage Scheduling Amendment 22/10/93

(10) by I A Kinnes and I H Longworth 1985 Catalogue of the excavated prehistoric and Romano-British material in the Greenwell Collection

Number 252 Page(s)120

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