The Battle for the Barrows

In a tide of encroaching bracken, a few exposed stones on a low rise suggest something hidden just beneath the heather. I am standing on a Round Barrow—one of four, perhaps five—in what was once a Bronze Age cemetery. These circular burial mounds, called barrows or cairns when built of stone, are the most common Bronze Age monuments found across the North York Moors. Built in clusters across community territories, many barrows served as family burial sites for generations.¹NYMNPA HER Records (Monuments). Barrow cemetery north of Egg Griff. HER No: 6085 ²National Trust Heritage Records Online. Round barrow, c.300m E of High Pastures Farm, Bridestones. Record ID: 30795*0 / MNA143709. https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA143709³National Trust Heritage Records Online. Putative barrow, c.320m E of High Pastures farm, Bridestones. Record ID: 30796*0 / MNA143873. https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA143873

Some barrows were placed deliberately on ridges and hilltops. In the Middle Ages, many gained names ending in “Howe”, from the Old Norse haugr, meaning burial mound. These then served as boundary markers, used to define land and parish edges.

The Round Barrows on Bridestones Moor have no name. They are tucked away from sight, hidden from paths and overlooked by most. Their greatest threat today comes from the bracken. Its roots dig deep, breaking into the fragile structures beneath. To limit the damage, the National Trust, which owns the land, cuts the bracken by hand each year. It is dull work, but there is something oddly calming about doing it under a warm June sun with just enough breeze to keep the flies off.

In the centre of the photo, across the deep dale of Dovedale Griff, you can just make out the High Bride Stones—weathered stacks of silicified sandy Oolite. These strange formations, shaped by time and erosion, would have stood there in the Bronze Age, just as they do now, watching as the dead were laid to rest.

• 1
  NYMNPA HER Records (Monuments). Barrow cemetery north of Egg Griff. HER No: 6085
• 2
  National Trust Heritage Records Online. Round barrow, c.300m E of High Pastures Farm, Bridestones. Record ID: 30795*0 / MNA143709. https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA143709
• 3
  National Trust Heritage Records Online. Putative barrow, c.320m E of High Pastures farm, Bridestones. Record ID: 30796*0 / MNA143873. https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA143873