Garrowby Wold barrow group - barrow at SE820570
A study of the
map of the Garrowby Wold area reveals what appears to be a linear cemetery
of round barrows arranged either side of the main A166 road particularly in
a mile long section between Garrowby Hill Top in the west and the radio
mast to the east of Cot Nab. In fact there were once many more barrows
here and the late 19th century antiquarian JR Mortimer records eighteen
in all mainly clustered around Garrowby Wold but also extending southwards
along Bishop Wilton Wold. The modern road that runs west to east over
Garrowby was formally a Roman road which in turn probably followed the
course of an ancient trackway linking the Derwent Valley with the central
Yorkshire Wolds area. At Garrowby the landscape narrows dramatically with
the steep valleys of Hundle Dale and South Wold Dale to the north and
Deep Dale to the south and anybody passing through this part of the country
would therefore be naturally funneled through this narrow saddle of high
ground and would have had to pass through the once imposing mounds of
this barrow group. The three round barrows shown on this page are all
located just to the north of the road, the barrow above stands in the
grounds of South Wold Farm and measures nearly 2 metres high and about
35 metres in diameter - it was listed by Mortimer but unusually he did
not undertake any excavation of the mound. A short distance away to the
east the barrow below was also left untouched by Mortimer, it is slightly
higher at about 2.5 metres tall but has a similar 35 metre diameter. The
image at the bottom of the page shows a slightly smaller barrow standing
about 2 metres high and a little over 20 metres in diameter. This barrow
stands towards the western end of the group and yet again was left unexcavated
although the English Heritage schedule for this site records this as having
being opened by Mortimer. It would appear that they have confused it with
a nearby but now plough destroyed mound a short distance to the west.
Date: Bronze Age
Date: Bronze Age
Barrow at SE822570 at the far eastern end of the group.
Barrow at SE808568 towards the western end of the group.
