<< Our Photo Pages >> Silver Hill - Round Barrow(s) in England in Yorkshire (West)
Submitted by Richard Thornhill on Saturday, 13 August 2005 Page Views: 13037
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Silver HillCountry: England County: Yorkshire (West) Type: Round Barrow(s)
Nearest Town: Keighley Nearest Village: Stanbury
Map Ref: SD981375
Latitude: 53.833754N Longitude: 2.030353W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Possible Round Barrow in West Yorkshire
An original article by Richard Thornhill: Silver Hill is locally said to be a tumulus, and, topped with two Scots pines as though an illustration for 'The Old Straight Track', it certainly looks like one. Thankfully, however, it has not been scientifically desecrated, and a local museum archaeologist states that there is no evidence for it being a burial mound (1). It is clearly artificial, and may be composed of earth from the steep bank behind. However, although there is a small rock face there, the bank does not seem to have been quarried, so Silver Hill is unlikely to be a spoil heap. Its most obvious explanation is therefore as a prehistoric monument, although it looks rather too steep-sided.
In the 19th century Silver Hill was said to be where Jacobites had buried treasure in 1745: The hill is surrounded by a wall (I suppose to guard the treasure) and its surface is adorned with trees. Grey-headed men living on the borders of Crow Hill and Lancashire Moors affirm that during the Scotch rebellion here was deposited a large chest of silver, which was hid in the hill. It would appear as if the chest of silver is still there! (2)
There is a local tradition that, during the Scotch Rebellion, a large chest of silver was hid in the hill (3).
Not far away lies the round back of Silver Hill, under which a vast treasure was said to have been buried during the ’45 rebellion. The fields which climb this hill were well tilled aforetime through being constantly turned over in search of the treasure (4).
There are numerous local stories about Jacobites and Scottish raiders (5), but, whether or not there is truth in any of them, Silver Hill was not named from Jacobites having buried silver there, as the name was already in use in 1645 (6) and 1653 (7). However, if it is a burial mound, it having been dug into so much by treasure-hunters could explain its atypical shape. In the 16th century, all burial mounds were believed to contain treasure (8), and Silver Hill could have got its name for that reason (A.H. Smith’s suggestions, that either the grass was silvery or the land was rich (9), seem weak), and then later been associated with real or imaginary Jacobites.
I would be interested to know the source for the folklore in Brigantia’s post on the Megalithic Portal, about two spirits, and a flaming barrel that was rolled down the hill. [update January 2018 - see comment below]
Notes
(1) Personal communication, Gavin Edwards, Archaeology Officer, Ilkley Manor House Museum, 2005. (2) James Whalley, The Wild Moor: A Tale Founded on Fact, Todmorden, 1869, p. 103. (3) J. Horsfall Turner, Haworth, Past and Present, 1879, reprinted Hendon Publishing, Nelson, 1999, pp. 153-154. (4) Halliwell Sutcliffe, By Moor and Fell, T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1899, p. 35. (5) For example, one of the numerous and contradictory tales about the Old Silent Inn, near Stanbury, is that Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed there. Also, when I was a child one smallholder was reputed to be descended from a Scottish raider who married a local lass, but had to build his house just outside Haworth because Scots were not allowed to live in the village. Some Jacobite stragglers or deserters may have come to the area, but the stories may have been based on the Scottish drovers who moved cattle down through the Pennines before the railways were built. (6) Title deeds relating to land at Old Snap, 1645, Brigg Collection document no. 234, Keighley Reference Library. (7) Articles of agreement between William Heaton and John Rawson, 17 October 1653, Brigg Collection document no. 347, Keighley Reference Library. (8) Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, 2nd ed., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1997, p. 235. (9) A.H. Smith, The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire, vol. 3, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1961, p. 270.
For other sources of information, please see The Northern Antiquarian (TNA) page for Silver Hill, Stanbury, West Yorkshire, which gives directions for finding this tumulus, together with a photograph and references.
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