Monument record MDR2891 - Round Barrow, Ryestone Grange, Ballidon

A barrow near Ryestone Grange, close to Minninglow Farm was opened by Bateman on August 13th 1849. The mound was crossed centrally by a thick wall that hampered excavation. Numerous human bones were recovered including a child's skeleton. There was a cremation on the old ground surface accompanied by a bone pin. A beaker sherd was also found in the centre of the mound. A Saxon iron knife was found near the surface. (1,4,5). A barrow with a diameter of c.10 metres and a height of 0.8m located on a ridgetop with good visibility over land to the north. The mound is crossed by a drystone wall which runs across a central pit. Bateman excavated the mound on the 13th August 1849 when he dug at one side of the wall. He found many disturbed human and animal bones. 0.3 metres down from the surface, an iron knife was found. On the natural surface was a cremation with a bone pin and from underneath a 'curiously ornamented' Beaker sherd was discovered. Elsewhere, a second bone pin, a flint flake and a possible PTD arrowhead not mentioned by Bateman. (6). Accurate location of barrow opened by T Bateman on 13th August 1849. The barrow has been partially removed by an early 20th century tramway, exposing a cist and associated cremated bone, a plano-convex knife and a pair of (modern) iron tweezers. The barrow is 9.90 metres x 3.0 metres with the primary interment (almost certainly a cist grave) at its northern end, apparently undisturbed prior to the 20th century damage. Bateman dug into the mound to the south of the cist. It seems that a low cist-mound was partially destroyed in Roman or early Anglo-Saxon times to make a secondary barrow. The finds from this, noted to Bateman, suggest that the original cist belongs to the early bronze Age, while Bateman was probably correct in his belief that the secondary grave was Anglo-Saxon in date. (7).