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Stonehenge: The Story So Far, Julian Richards

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<< Other Photo Pages >> Skipsea mound - Artificial Mound in England in Yorkshire (East)

Submitted by drolaf on Saturday, 11 February 2017  Page Views: 7161

Multi-periodSite Name: Skipsea mound Alternative Name: Skipsea Castle
Country: England
NOTE: This site is 1.462 km away from the location you searched for.

County: Yorkshire (East) Type: Artificial Mound
Nearest Town: Skipsea  Nearest Village: Skipsea Brough
Map Ref: TA1609455094
Latitude: 53.978876N  Longitude: 0.231263W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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drolaf visited on 15th May 2017 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 limited parking by gate at road

Skipsea mound
Skipsea mound submitted by Creative Commons : Skipsea mound from one of the castle earthworks Copyright Richard Croft and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Skipsea mound, previously thought to be Norman built, has now been found to be of 400-200 BC date. At 278ft (85m) in diameter and 42ft (13m) high, it is now the largest artificial mound of this date in Britain.

The discovery is part of the Round Mounds Project, a 3 year research project, which started in 2015. (Information from Jim Leary, Reading University)

This region is well known for its continuity of settlement, often on the same site, from the Neolithic through to Iron Age.

Located near the Holderness coast, Skipsea is part of a fertile landscape that was widely settled in the Neolithic, and is only 9 miles from the Rudston cursuses and monolith. A nearby cropmark henge is at Northorpe on the route south to Hornsea. The higher more well drained Wolds were the main destination for Langdale stone axes, but the river Humber estuary’s importance is highlighted by the presence of Bronze Age stitched plank boats at Kilnsea, Ferriby and Brigg.

Access is good by foot but there is little in the way of vehicle parking space.

Note: Skipsea Castle mound was last year found to be originally Iron Age in date. More geophysical surveying is planned, details are in the comments on our page
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Skipsea mound
Skipsea mound submitted by SumDoood : Viewed from the same point (where Skipsea Drain passes beneath Beeford Road), All Saints church is located, as seems to be the case with other churches and chapels in the wider area, on ground much higher than its immediate surroundings. Perhaps not so oddly, this church's oval enclosure is very similar in shape and size to the Welsh style of enclosure of religious buildings, i.e. the "llan" which... (Vote or comment on this photo)

Skipsea mound
Skipsea mound submitted by bcoulson82 : Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) Over Skipsea Mound 19/7/2020 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Skipsea mound
Skipsea mound submitted by drolaf : Mound shadow near sunset 15 May (Vote or comment on this photo)

Skipsea mound
Skipsea mound submitted by drolaf : Mound from the western rampart bank. The mound is level with sea horizon, in fact you can see the ships above the mound. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Skipsea mound
Skipsea mound submitted by drolaf : Mound from the south low land

Skipsea mound
Skipsea mound submitted by SumDoood : I wish I'd made time for a better look at the extensive earthworks marked on the OS map to the W and S of the mound. This image was taken from Beeford Road to the SE of the mound.

Skipsea mound
Skipsea mound submitted by Creative Commons : The remains of Skipsea castle mound viewed across farmland from the south. Copyright Phil Williams and licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Licence

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 3.7km N 354° All Saints (Barmston)* Sculptured Stone (TA156588)
 7.3km WSW 258° St Elgin's Church Ancient Cross (TA090534)
 9.3km NW 317° St John's Well (Harpham)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TA095617)
 10.7km NW 309° Fox Hill Tumulus* Round Barrow(s) (TA07606167)
 11.9km WNW 303° Ruston Beacon (Ruston Parva) Cairn (TA05846128)
 12.3km NNW 331° Rudston A Cursus* Cursus (TA099657)
 12.4km NNW 331° Rudston Cult Centre* Ancient Village or Settlement (TA099658)
 12.4km NNW 329° Rudston Beacon Round Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (TA0945365617)
 12.6km WNW 288° Nafferton Slack (Driffield) Standing Stone (Menhir) (TA040587)
 12.7km NNW 337° Southside Mount* Round Barrow(s)
 13.2km NNW 346° Caythorpe Misc. Earthwork (TA125678)
 14.1km NNW 342° Greenland Fort Hillfort (TA115684)
 14.1km NNW 333° Rudston B Cursus Cursus (TA094675)
 14.1km NNW 332° Rudston Cursus Group Cursus (TA092674)
 14.1km NNW 335° Rudston Monolith* Standing Stone (Menhir) (TA0980367743)
 14.2km NNW 337° Rudston C Cursus Cursus (TA102680)
 14.2km NNW 335° Rudston D Cursus Cursus (TA097678)
 14.2km NNW 327° Rudston B Cursus Cursus (TA081669)
 14.2km NW 309° Gallows Hill Barrow Round Barrow(s) (TA04776379)
 14.5km NNW 338° Rudston A Cursus Cursus (TA103684)
 15.0km NNW 332° Rudston C Cursus Cursus (TA088682)
 15.3km NNW 328° Rudstone Long Barrow Long Barrow (TA07586779)
 15.6km NNE 21° Gell Spring* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TA213698)
 16.1km NW 321° Kilham Long Barrow Long Barrow (TA056673)
 16.4km WNW 301° Dane's Graves* Barrow Cemetery (TA01806330)
View more nearby sites and additional images

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"Skipsea mound" | Login/Create an Account | 4 News and Comments
  
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Re: Skipsea mound by drolaf on Monday, 15 May 2017
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Visited May 14 2017

The footpath and gate is on the west side of the village in an awkward road bend. The S-SW medieval ramparts are English Heritage but the northerly ramparts and the mound are privately owned, with access permission on a footpath. There is a sign on the gate saying please no climbing on the monument, and keep to the foot path. However the site has cattle on it, and any damage done by humans would be minimal compared to the substantial damage being caused by cows. The mound has fared slightly better than the embankments which arc in a semicircle south-west-north. Possibly another example of EH management neglect?

This is a very interesting site in terms of its intervisibility with other sites and landscape. From the west bank the surrounding distant rim of the wolds to the west, and to the NNE the coast of the north York moors can be seen, including the late BA/early IA earthworks at ‘Dane’s’ dykes past Bridlington and the Gypsey Race. Higher sites inland can see the coast clearly.

From the foot of the western embankment the top of the mound is transposed nearly onto sea level on the horizon. Actually you can see ships floating above the mound top.

To the east is low/marsh. Near sunset the mound casts an even shadow onto the fields below.
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Skipsea update by Andy B on Saturday, 11 February 2017
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The University of Reading is going to carry out a Magnetometry survey work over the interior of Skipsea Brough – the large crescent-shaped enclosure to the south-west of Skipsea mound. They will also do a smaller Earth Resistance survey.

The Yorkshire archaeological and history society, prehistory section, are helping to fund this work.

With thanks to DrOlaf for the information

More in our forum
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=Forum&file=viewtopic&topic=7129&forum=2&start=0
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Re: Skipsea Castle by Andy B on Saturday, 11 February 2017
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Skipsea Castle
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/skipsea-castle/
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1011212

How does Skipsea mound measure up?
https://roundmoundsproject.wordpress.com/2016/10/04/how-does-skipsea-mound-measure-up/

Video: Dr Jim Leary on Skipsea Mound
https://roundmoundsproject.wordpress.com/2016/10/04/dr-jim-leary-on-skipsea-mound/

Hiding in plain sight: Skipsea Castle, East Yorkshire
https://roundmoundsproject.wordpress.com/2016/10/03/hiding-in-plain-sight-skipsea-castle-east-yorkshire/

Most interesting looking ahead, they are looking for more sites to study:

The second fieldwork season of the Round Mounds Project is already in full swing! Below is a list of sites that are being investigated:

We’re looking for mounds situated in landscapes with known prehistoric activity (especially Neolithic monuments!), mounds that are in low-lying and ‘watery’ topographic settings, and mounds that are relatively large (i.e. larger than your average barrow).

The sites
“Castle 2”, Hamstead Marshall, W. Berkshire
Sherrington, Wiltshire
Castle Tump, Worcestershire
Clare, Suffolk
Tonbridge, Kent
Catterick, N. Yorkshire
Pilsbury, Derbyshire
Tickhill, S. Yorkshire
“Montem Mound”, Slough, Berkshire

https://roundmoundsproject.wordpress.com/2016/10/04/fieldwork-2016-the-sites/

More from the Round Mounds project
https://roundmoundsproject.wordpress.com/
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Re: Skipsea Castle by Andy B on Saturday, 11 February 2017
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Archaeologists have discovered that the 40-foot mound of Skipsea Castle in East Yorkshire, previously thought to be a Norman castle motte, is actually a unique Iron Age monument, built 2,500 years ago.

University of Reading archaeologists say that Skipsea Castle is actually more similar to Silbury Hill in Wiltshire than a Norman Conquest-era ‘motte and bailey’ castle.

The discovery of the ‘Silbury Hill of the North’ [Groan - MegP Ed] makes Skipsea Castle a unique Iron Age monument in Britain. Previously, only smaller burial mounds from this period were known about. The closest mound of a similar size is in Germany.

Dr Jim Leary, the University of Reading archaeologist who led the excavation, said: “To say that the discovery of an Iron Age monument hiding in plain sight was surprising is an understatement. Conventional wisdom has suggested that castle mottes were brought to England by the Normans, following the conquest that began in October 1066, exactly 950 years ago.

“Castle mottes exist up and down the country, but their huge size means they are rarely excavated and as a result much of what we previously thought we knew about their date was based on scant documentary evidence and guesswork.

“I excavated Silbury in Wiltshire in 2008, and now to discover the Silbury Hill of the North is wonderful. It adds so much more to our understanding of the people who lived in Britain 500 years before the Romans arrived.”

The discovery was made using a novel technique to investigate, for the first time, some of the best known mottes in England, to learn more about when they were built or re-used.

Working alongside colleagues at the Scottish Environmental Research Centre at East Kilbride, the team from Reading have shown that although the majority of the mounds investigated so far were built in the period immediately after the Norman Conquest in 1066, there are some remarkable exceptions.

Radiocarbon dating has shown that some mounds were built centuries later than expected. However, Skipsea Castle mound in Yorkshire was already 1,500 years old at the time of the Norman Conquest.

The new results show that this huge mound – which is 85m in diameter and stands 13m high – dates to the middle of the Iron Age and therefore unique in Britain at the time, with only a handful of parallels on the Continent.

Dr Jim Leary added: “We are able, for the first time, to reveal the date of construction, sequence of development and environmental context of these wonderful monuments, providing insights never previously thought possible.

“Our work continues for another year and we will continue to add to our knowledge of castle mounds. With luck, we might even find more prehistoric mounds in Britain, hiding from us in plain sight.”

To recover dateable material locked within these monuments, the archaeologists drilled small boreholes through the tops of each mound down to their bases.

Dr Leary said: “These boreholes act like a giant apple corer providing us with a complete sequence through the fabric of the mounds with minimal disruption.

“From this we are able to recover material for laboratory analysis, whilst at the same time preserving the integrity of the monuments for generations to come.”

From tiny pieces of evidence, such as charred seeds or pollen, the archaeologists have been able to reconstruct the environment the mounds were built in, while organic material has been radiocarbon dated revealing the age of the mottes.

Mottes are earthen mounds that often had a wooden or stone tower constructed on them, and were sometimes coupled with a defensive enclosure known as a bailey. The motte and bailey type castle was developed in northern Europe in the tenth century, and the design is thought to have been brought to England by the Normans following the Conquest in 1066.


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