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Airy Hill Farm

Plan for phone mast worries archaeologists – turned down

Rhiannon Aug 6, 2003

At Airy Hill Farm, near the interestingly named ‘Boosbeck’.

From thisisthenortheast.co.uk/the_north_east/east_cleveland/news/NEWS1.html

CONCERN has been voiced by archaeologists over plans to site a mobile phone tower near a Bronze Age monument. Planning officers recommended Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council planning committee approve the mast at Airy Hill Farm, Boosbeck, near Guisborough.

It would be sited 40 metres from a burial ground dating back to about 1800BC, which has national protection. Robin Daniels, from interest group Tees Archaeology, said: “We want to ensure that this scheduled monument survives and we are concerned that if planning permission is granted for this mobile mast that further masts may also be built near it in the future.

“We are happy for this mast to be built 40 metres away from the site, but we are worried any future masts may creep closer to the site. “By the time three or four more masts have been built, that 40 metres can soon be eroded. We often see the proliferation of these things once one has been built.”

The site is protected under national legislation by the Ancient Monument and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. Permission would have to be sought from the Secretary of State for any building which was less than 40 metres away from the site.

Mr Daniels said: “This burial mound has not been excavated, but the pattern you see is that mounds such as these have the cremation urn of an important person from the local area at the base and often secondary urns were inserted later. The mounds acted both as burial grounds and as territorial markers and were found round the edges of boundaries.”

Mobile phone company Orange PCS submitted the application for the mast. It would be a 20-metre lattice tower supporting three antennae and two microwave dishes. Equipment cabinets would also have to be built next to the mast. The site is close to an existing mast and a pylon, both owned by Northern Electric, but Orange has found it impossible to reach an agreement to share the structures.

The planning committee will decide whether to approve an application to build the mast on Thursday.

I’ve since read that the planning application has been refused – but I haven’t got any more details because the website has since removed the story.

Airy Hill Farm

Round Barrow(s)

fitzcoraldo May 16, 2004

In reply to Rhiannon’s observation on the name of Boosbeck.
Alec Wright says that the name is Old English and means “the stream by the cowshed”.

Airy Hill Farm

Round Barrow(s)

fitzcoraldo Aug 6, 2003

Airy Hill (1) NZ 6425 1675
Previous to 1966, when it was ploughed out, the Ordnance Survey records that this burial mound wads 13.5m from east to west and 10m from north to south.
It is now only visible as a slight swelling in the field.
The mound situated close to Airy Hill Farm was prominantly placed on a west facing slope at 215m O.D. It was opened by Atkinson who uncovered two cremations; one was accompanied by a few scraps of burnt flint, the other wasd unaccompanied, but was enclosed in a clay dome like structure.

Airy Hill (2) NZ 6443 1675
This is situated 200m west of the firdst, and is prominently sited on the south-west facing slope. The two mounds would have been intervisible.
This mound is of earth and stone construction, 12.5m in diameter and 0.6m high. A possible kerbstone was discovered on the fence line in 1975 and was found to bear 6 cups.
Atkinson’s excavation yeilded no results.

Taken from “Bronze Age Burial Mounds in Cleveland”
G.M. Crawford
1980

Airy Hill Farm

Round Barrow(s)

Rhiannon Aug 6, 2003

This flat-topped round barrow caps Airy Hill. It was originally surrounded by a kerb of stones, one of which had six cup marks. However, the stones have either been buried by slipped soil, or have been taken away. There are quite a few barrows that incorporate rock art in this area, along the North and East periphery of the North York Moors.

The rock art suggests that the barrow is from the late Neolithic, or the early Bronze age – and therefore earlier than many similar barrows on the Central moor. I wonder where the majority of ‘ordinary’ on-a-crag rock art is in this area?

The centre of the mound has a dent where it’s been dug into in the past. At the south edge there is a hedge – beyond this the mound has been totally ploughed out. To the west there was another barrow (and there may have been more) but this has been ploughed out completely.

(information gleaned from EH’s scheduled monuments record)