Now! Then! 2024! - Yorkshire On This Day

Excerpt

In his indefatigable and most interesting researches on the Wiltshire Downs, Sir Richard Colt Hoare had not the good fortune to discover any barrow of a British charioteer. We discovered two. That in which the articles here represented were found is situated on the very edge and to the north of the present turnpike road. The elevation of this barrow was uncertain from the circumstance of its crown having been levelled, probably at the time when the turnpike road was formed; its diameter was from eight to nine yards. The cist [burial chamber] was nearly a circle of eleven or twelve feet. In a cist, as just observed, almost circular, excavated to the depth of about a foot and a half in the chalky rock, and on a nearly smooth pavement, the skeleton of a British charioteer presented itself, surrounded by what in life formed the sources of his pride and delight, and no inconsiderable part of his possessions. The head of this charioteer was placed to the north, with an eastern inclination. He rested on his back, his arms crossed on his breast, and his thigh and leg bones, when bared, presented to the eye what may be termed a singular grained work both the thigh and leg bones appearing to have been crossed in opposite directions. Very near to his head were found the heads of two wild boars. Inclining from the skeleton, on each side, had been placed a wheel, the iron tyre and ornaments of the nave of the wheel only remaining. The tyre of the wheel to the east of the body was found perfect in the ground, but unfortunately it broke into several pieces on removal owing to its corroded state. Small fragments of the original oak still adhered to the iron. In diameter these wheels had been a trifle more than two feet eleven inches, the width of the iron tyre about one inch five-eighths. The diameter of the ornaments of iron, plated with copper and varnished green, which had encircled the nave as a kind of rim, was very nearly six inches. The circumference of the wheel, on the western side, had been forced much out of its shape, evidently by pressure of the earth. Each of these wheels had originally rested on a horse, the bones of which were found under, or adjoining to them, the head of each horse being not far from that of the charioteer, on opposite sides. From the sizes of their leg bones, these horses were of unequal height, but probably neither of them reached thirteen hands. Perhaps they may lawfully be regarded as progenitors of the Shetland, Welsh, or forest breeds of our own day. At any rate, they corroborate by the most certain of all evidence – the historical record – that the British horse was “diminutive in his size, and swift in his motion.” The latter appears to be very probable from the slender girth of the leg bone; which would almost bespeak some mixture of what Yorkshire jockeys term “blood.” Indeed there required something of lightness in the breed of their steeds, if Caesar’s well-known account of the great expertness of British charioteers be correct: “They display in battle the speed of horsemen and the firmness of infantry, and by daily practice and exercise attain to such expertise that they are accustomed, even on a steep downward slope, to check their horses at full speed, and manage and turn them in an instant, and run along the pole and stand on the yoke, and thence return with the greatest celerity to their chariots.”

Comment

Comment

Footnotes and illustrations omitted. My translation of Stillingfleet’s quote from the Gallic Wars 4.33.3 is based on McDevitte (Caesar 1879) and is slightly extended for the benefit of non-antiquarians. Abraham de la Pryme was the first to mention the Iron Age cemetery at Arras, in a letter to Dr Gale, Dean of York, in January or February 1699:

I saw in my journey to York many hundreds of tumuli, which I take to be Roman, at a place called Arras, on this side Wighton, not mentioned in any author, which I intend next summer to dig into and take a whole account and descriptions thereof, and of all other Roman stations, monuments, streets, places of battle, coins, or whatever is observable whereever I come (Pryme 1870).

Here’s Arras Farm in 1950. I’m sure the three tumuli mentioned in the full letter have all been obliterated by intensive farming, but can someone identify their exact locations?

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Original

ACCOUNT OF THE OPENING OF SOME BARROWS ON THE WOLDS OF YORKSHIRE.

IN A LETTER FROM THE REV. EDWARD WILLIAM STILLINGFLEET, B.D., VICAR OF SOUTH CAVE, IN THAT COUNTY, TO CHARLES NEWTON, ESQ. READ AT THE MONTHLY MEETING OF THE ARCHEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, LONDON, FEB. 1847.

Jan. 28th, 1847.

DEAR SIR,

I AM happy to comply with your request, by furnishing a short statement as to the discovery of a few British, or Roman-British articles, which were exhibited at York, last July, in the temporary museum of the Archæological Institute.

Having obtained permission from the proprietors of the estates and their tenants, at occasional opportunities, during the summer months of the years 1815, 1816, and 1817, I joined a party, which was formed for the purpose of opening a group of barrows, at Arras and Hessleskew, on the south-western boundary of the Yorkshire Wolds. The site may be traced in something of an irregular circuit around the third mile-stone from Market Weighton, on the turnpike road to Beverley. The ground is very elevated, on a kind of table land, after a gradual rise of two miles; above the vast plain, which stretches from the Humber to the Hambleton Hills, and across the Vale of York to the Highlands of the West Riding. That vast plain, it commands westerly. On the north, it looks over an extensive range of the Wolds; and towards the east and south-east nearly on the map of Holderness, from Spurn Point to the Cliffs of Flamborough. Few situations could have been better chosen for observation, or for security from surprise, or for advantages of pasturage, or for the pursuits of the chase.

Here, with every probability, has resided a British tribe. Perhaps, a British track, or ridge-way, may have extended from (what are provincially called) “the Double Dykes,” on the east of Hessleskew, southerly, by the high grounds of Hunsley and Riplingham, towards the Humber; and northerly, across the Wolds, to the British settlements, which have been discovered by the historian of Whitby, on the moors in that neighbourhood. Whether this ridge-way may have connected Hessle on the Humber with Hessleskew on the Wolds, may be left for the decision of more learned etymologists. As far as general agreement in mode of sepulture, and very considerable similarity in the ornaments found, may determine the point, this tribe seems to have had a national affinity with the tribes on the Wiltshire Downs, whose barrows were investigated by the late Sir Richard Colt Hoare. Only, our Brigantian tribe were a poorer race than those of the Belgæ.

Mr. Oliver, in his History of Beverley, overstates, I think, the number of barrows opened: a little more than half the number given by him is nearer in agreement with my recollection after a lapse of years. Generally speaking, they were circular in shape, and were formed from the adjacent chalk and soil. Of course, in our researches, there were several blanks; and we had to encounter many a weary hour in which hope was deferred, and much patient investigation frequently obtained little reward. With any dry detail of such matters, you need not be troubled. The most interesting portable articles which fell to my share were exhibited in your temporary museum at the York meeting; and, in now communicating to you those parts of our researches which were connected with their discovery, what is most interesting to the public, will be placed on record.

The ornaments of jet, or Kimmeridge coal, were found in a barrow on the Hessleskew ground. The flat ornaments are singularly dotted; and much resemble what we see depicted, as still worn by uncivilized tribes. Ornaments, similar in punctuation and shape, were exhibited at York, from the Museum of Newcastle on Tyne. Oval beads of the same material, were found mixed with these. The arrangement in which both are now represented, was adopted as probable.

The bracelets are valuable as being similar in form and material to those which have been discovered elsewhere, by other investigators. They are partially elastic, and may be adapted to the wrist; closing after the manner of a key-ring of the present day. We found several much finer bracelets; but they did not fall to my share.

The miniature bronze celt, or British axe, of the length of a single inch, was found in a barrow on the Hessleskew side of the turn-pike road: having a pin which connected it, when used, with a small light blue glass bead. It is of beautiful workmanship, and proves considerable skill in the artisans of what are called the rude ages. This must have been a valuable trinket to its fair owner; and, as a discovery, is probably unique. The care of our workmen was evident in bringing it to light, as it was, likewise, in the opening of a barrow, which was dignified by the name of the Queen’s barrow – the barrow of the chief female of the tribe. This barrow was in the Arras ground; its elevation about three feet; its circumference not large; but it proved to be a barrow, rich in its contents. An iron knob was found above the interment, nearly even with the surface of the rock. These iron knobs were of frequent occurrence; they puzzled us much. All we could conjecture was, that they were placed in their position from some superstitious, or talismanic notion. This iron knob was upon a cist, which, on being excavated to the depth of about a foot, was found to contain the skeleton of a moderately tall female, lying with her head to the north, and her feet gathered up. Both these were frequent, if not general features, in the interments of this group. The former points to an era prior to a general extension of Christianity in Britain; the latter seems to be in agreement with the custom of a patriarchal age, and is said, by Sir Richard Hoare, to be the primitive mode of interment. Her ornaments remained; and these were found near the head and the upper part of the body. They consisted of about one hundred beads of glass, or some vitreous substance, generally opaque, and of three or four patterns. Two sorts had different shades of blue as their ground; these were spotted or zigzagged by white. A smaller number of transparent green glass beads had a serpentine line of opaque white entwined around them. Besides these beads, a ring of red amber was found near the neck or breast; in exterior diameter, one inch and five-eighths; in interior diameter about half an inch. Likewise, a radiated brooch of curious workmanship; and a singular round ornament: its diameter two inches, with a protuberance in the centre, and a neck by which it may have been suspended from that of the fair wearer, as was the bracteate in Anglo-Saxon times. Both these trinkets had been covered with a kind of paste, which, in the circular ornament, wound round in three concentric rolls. This paste has originally had an outer coat of varnish, or some thin and hard substance: it is now very brittle. In addition, we found two bracelets of inferior workmanship, in diameter two inches and a half; a small ring, scarcely one inch in diameter; a pair of tweezers; and a pin of two inches in length, with a ring at its end, to fasten the robe of this British lady. Each of these articles seems to be of copper, mixed perhaps with tin, or some other metal; and were, as customary, coated with a green varnish.

At this barrow, I received from the hand of my labourer, a ring of very nearly standard gold, in weight 3 dwts. 21 grs. In front, this ring is clasped in a kind of rose, or quatrefoil; and it is an ornament by no means of despicable workmanship.

In his indefatigable, and most interesting researches on the Wiltshire Downs, Sir Richard Colt Hoare had not the good fortune to discover any barrow of a British charioteer. We discovered two. That in which the articles here represented were found, is situated on the very edge, and to the north of the present turn-pike road. The elevation of this barrow was uncertain from the circumstance of its crown having been levelled, probably at the time when the turn-pike road was formed; its diameter was from eight to nine yards. The cist was nearly a circle of eleven or twelve feet.

In a cist, as just observed, almost circular, excavated to the depth of about a foot and a half in the chalky rock, and on a nearly smooth pavement, the skeleton of a British charioteer presented itself; surrounded by what in life formed the sources of his pride and delight, and no inconsiderable part of his possessions. The head of this charioteer was placed to the north, with an eastern inclination. He rested on his back, his arms crossed on his breast, and his thigh and leg bones, when bared, presented to the eye what may be termed a singular grained work both the thigh and leg bones appearing to have been crossed in opposite directions. Very near to his head were found the heads of two wild boars. Inclining from the skeleton, on each side, had been placed a wheel: the iron tire and ornaments of the nave of the wheel only remaining. The tire of the wheel to the east of the body was found perfect in the ground; but unfortunately it broke into several pieces on removal, owing to its corroded state. Small fragments of the original oak still adhered to the iron. In diameter, these wheels had been a trifle more than two feet eleven inches; the width of the iron tire about one inch five-eighths. The diameter of the ornaments of iron, plated with copper and varnished green, which had encircled the nave as a kind of rim, was very nearly six inches. The circumference of the wheel, on the western side, had been forced much out of its shape; evidently by pressure of the earth. Each of these wheels had originally rested on a horse; the bones of which were found under, or adjoining to them: the head of each horse being not far from that of the charioteer, on opposite sides. From the sizes of their leg bones, these horses were of unequal height: but probably, neither of them reached thirteen hands. Perhaps they may lawfully be regarded as progenitors of the Shetland, Welch, or forest breeds of our own day; at any rate, they corroborate by the most certain of all evidence the historical record that the British horse was “diminutive in his size, and swift in his motion.” The latter appears to be very probable from the slender girth of the leg bone; which would almost bespeak some mixture of what Yorkshire jockeys term blood. Indeed there required something of lightness in the breed of their steeds, if Cæsar’s well-known account of the great expertness of British charioteers be correct, “Tantum usu quotidiano, et exercitatione efficiunt, ut in declivi, ac præcipiti loco incitatos equos sustinere, et brevi moderari, ac flectere – consuerint.”

On the western side of this British charioteer were found two very singular articles of the length of five inches; round at one end, and curved at the other; of iron plated with green-varnished copper, which our workmen called linch-pins. Whatever may have been their use, similar articles were exhibited at York amongst Lord Prudhoe’s discoveries at Stanwick which are now deposited in the British Museum. Besides these, (in different parts of the barrow, but all, I think, on the western side,) were found two little rings, three quarters of an inch in diameter; and five buckles, semicircular, of various sizes, in some of which the tongue still remained. These buckles undoubtedly belonged to the harness; and their fellows may be seen in the Stanwick collection. (Compare plate iv. fig. 4.)

On the same side, near the legs of the skeleton, were found two other appendages of the equipage of this British charioteer, in full length about ten inches. They are formed by two substantial rings, of the outer diameter of three inches and a quarter, joining on strong globular links, being tied together by another strong double link of two inches three quarters long. Like the rest of the articles found, they are of iron, plated with copper coated with green; and the large rings have a pretty chain-pattern running round them. These articles would generally be pronounced to be the bits of bridles; and a general verdict must be received. Objects similar to these have often been discovered, and may be seen, both in the Stanwick, and Polden Hill collections. One of the most intricate in its form, appears to have been that which was purchased by Dr. Stukeley, and pronounced, by that learned antiquary, to have belonged to the harness of a British chariot. It was found, on an accidental opening being made on the well-known Silbury Hill, in 1723; it is delineated in Stukeley’s Abury, and in Gough’s edition of Camden. It was not uncommon, to bury horses and their trappings with the ancient heroes, in proof of which, we may adduce the fact that a bit of this kind was discovered, with many fragments of chariot wheels, on Hamden Hill, in Somersetshire.

This barrow was laid open with great success, and afforded a valuable evidence as to the mode in which a British charioteer, of renown in his day, had been entombed. In fact we brought into day-light a concealed mausoleum dedicated to his memory and fame: more durable than the splendid architectural mausoleum of a refined age, and perhaps as rational. The uncivilized Brigantian, after surrounding the remains of his chieftain with memorials of his character, rank, and celebrity, raised the simple mound; and “bade it speak to other years.” The skull of the skeleton was that of an old man. The labourers were certain that he “must have been a king,” and, as we could not contradict them, we named this “the king’s barrow,” to distinguish it from the sepulchre of another British charioteer whose remains were found in the ground of Hessleskew.

This charioteer’s barrow was small. It had been levelled nearly to the adjacent surface of the soil; was not elevated so much as two feet in its summit; and in diameter was about eight feet. Yet, in this barrow we found an ancient North Briton resting on his shield; his skull partially marked by corrosion from the verdigrease of its bosses. I am sorry that I omitted noting how many bosses there were; but one of them, nearly entire, measures four and a half inches in diameter. It is thin, and of the material usually found in this group. On discovery, a small portion of the wood of the shield adhered to this boss. It was surrounded by a thin rim of the same material; we also found a part of the iron rim of the shield, much corroded, and, in that state, about one inch in width: all supporting the opinion, that ancient British shields were not large in size. Inclining from the body of the British warrior, both on the western and on the eastern side, had been placed a wheel and a bridle bit, with iron rings which had belonged to the chariot, or to its trappings. These bits were of iron, without any coat of brass, corroded by age, and somewhat resembled the harsh snaffle-bit of our own horse-breakers. One bit was taken out nearly entire; the other was injured by the workmen. The diameter of the wheels was only about two feet eight inches: a sufficient indication of the lightness of the British chariot. The diameter of the rim of the nave of these wheels, also of iron, was about five inches. Oak was still attached to part of the tire of the wheels, and the nails which had been used as rivets, were entire. The tire of only one of them was perfectly traced in the ground, with its nave; and unfortunately even that broke into pieces on removal from its earthen bed. Two wild boar’s tusks had been placed on the body of this British charioteer. One of them had been enclosed in a singular kind of outer case of thin brass. It was found in good condition, perforated by a square hole, by which it had most probably been suspended from the neck or girdle of the hunter. The case is adapted to the curve of the boar’s tusk; and in a straight line measures five inches. The length of the boar’s tusk itself is four inches and a half. It has evidently been polished; has a diamond pattern engraved on its top to the length of three quarters of an inch, and a square hole bored through it, corresponding with the hole in its case.

I have found no ornament similar to this, in any of the books to which a retired country residence affords access. Perhaps, this square hole may throw some light on the use of that which is bored through a boar’s tusk, found by the late Mr. Connington, on Upton Lovel Downs, in Wiltshire.

The discoveries of this barrow, record the interment of a warrior, a mighty hunter, and a person of celebrity in his day and amongst the people of his clan; glorying in the chace after an animal said to have been scarcely less savage than the wolf; and reluctant that the memory of his deeds should be consigned to oblivion. Had it not been for the material of which the boss of the shield, and case of the boar’s tusk is formed, we might have regarded this interment as of prior date to that of the regal charioteer. And may it not lawfully be so regarded? may not this, if either, have been the war chariot; while the king’s equipage more nearly resembled that of a British Esseda, which figured at a later date on the fashionable drives of ancient Rome? Dr. Stukeley quotes authority to shew, that Celtic bridles were curiously wrought; and regards the circumstance of the bridle found at Silbury Hill being perfectly plain and rude as an argument of its great antiquity.

These remarks are submitted to the candour and indulgence of the members of the Archæological Institute. A country clergyman, occupied by professional engagements, with only such opportunities for research as are afforded in a secluded situation, may lawfully be excused for venturing on little beyond matter-of-fact statements. Yet, after all, matter-of-fact statements are not among the least valuable. It is by the collation of discoveries made in our own islands with the result of the researches of our northern continental neighbours that a mass of evidence will in due time be collected, in regard to the customs of the various tribes, who have peopled Britain, in different eras. We shall thence become far better acquainted with the habits, manners, pursuits, and commerce of our remote ancestors. And, in this point of view, sepulchral relics will be found to be of sterling historical value; and not merely, to “arise unto late posterity, as emblems of mortal vanities.”

I am, dear Sir,

Your faithful servant,

EDWARD WILLIAM STILLINGFLEET.

CHARLES NEWTON, Esq.

3279 words.

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• Antiquities (3) ·
• Archaeological excavation (2) ·
• Archaeology (4) ·
• Arras culture (1) ·
• 📌Arras, East Yorkshire (1), farm, site of an Iron Age cemetery and a medieval village ·
• British Iron Age (1) ·
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• East Riding of Yorkshire (66) ·
• Edward William Stillingfleet (1) ·
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• Limestone (11), a common type of carbonate sedimentary rock, generally formed from the accumulation of corals and shells in the sea, often containing fossils; unsuited for textile manufacturing because of the hardness of the water and the relative lack of springs and brooks on its fells and in its gills ·
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