Description: Penhill Beacon applies to a green mound supposed to have been erected in the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). (1) This feature stands about 3ft high, consisting of a pile of stones overgrown with moss and earth with a log in the centre, upon which it is believed fires were once lit. (2) "Leland wrote of 'the ruine of a castlet or pill in the toppe' (of Penhill) was surmounted by the beacon fired at the coming of the Armada". (3-5) Penhill Beacon, situated on the edge of Penhill Crags is a turf-covered flat topped mound, about 10m in diameter and 1m high. In the centre of the mound are traces of stone block walling approximately 5m square, which may have been the stone base for a beacon. The mound is covered in burnt debris from the 1977 Jubilee bonfire which supports the beacon tradition. (6) MORPH reference. (7) Possibly a Bronze Age barrow site (cf Beamsley Beacon). (8)
Country: England
County: North Yorkshire
District: Richmondshire
Parish: West Witton
Grid Reference:
SE054867
Map Reference:
[EPSG:27700] 405464, 486737
Period: -2350 - -701, 1500 - 2000, BRONZE AGE, MEDIEVAL, C20
Subject: BARROW (POSSIBLE), BEACON
Intervention Type: FIELD OBSERVATION (VISUAL ASSESSMENT)
Identifiers:
[ADS] Depositor Id: MYD4437
[ADS] Associated Id: National Monuments Record SE 08 NE 1
[ADS] Associated Id: Monarch UID 48644
[ADS] Import RCN: YDNPA13-MYD4437
People Involved:
[Publisher] Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
Bibliographic References:
Cite record using this URL:
https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archsearch/record?titleId=2116425