NGR: TA 0616 7234. About 152 metres north of Low Barn Farm (also called Willy Howe Farm), roughly located between Wold Newton and Burton Fleming, in the Great Wold Valley, East Yorkshire, are the large tree-covered mounds or round barrows known as Willy Howe, which date from the mid to late Neolithic age. The site is 295 m to the south of Burton Fleming Lane, close to a farm track. There are numerous far-fetched legends and tall tales associated with the burial mounds (there are actually three mounds together but they are usually classed as one), however, these are “only legends” and in reality, there is no truth whatsoever in any of them, although they are interesting and worth mentioning here. Local people used to think the mound was inhabited by fairy folk and it was thought there was a doorway leading into it.

Excavations at the site have not produced any tangible evidence of burials, although a shaft going down into the mound was discovered, so maybe it was left unfinished and its builders had to leave or flee the area suddenly for some reason, or maybe this was made by the antiquarian excavators. It was excavated in the mid and late 19th century by antiqua-rians of some repute. Willy Howe is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and is under the protection of Historic England (H.E.). There are a few other round barrows not too far away from here, and the famous Rudston standing stone is only 3 miles to the southeast.

Timothy Darvill writing in 1988 says of the site that it is: “another fine middle Neolithic round barrow surviving as a mound nearly 40m in diameter and 7m high. Excavations produced no certain evidence of burials, but a rock-cut shaft rather similar to the one at Duggleby Howe was located under the centre of the mound.” Richard Cavendish writing in 1983 regarding the Rudstone Standing Stone adds that: “About 3 miles (4.8km) to the NW and of the same period is the giant, tree-shrouded barrow called Willy Howe…. 24ft (7.2m) high and 130ft (40m) across.  

Janet & Colin Bord (1991) tell us more and say: “Ancient sites (usually cairns or barrows) were often believed to be fairy haunts, and they were said to dance or make music there. Willy Howe (Humberside) is a prominent round barrow which housed a fairy dwelling, seen by a drunken villager late one night. He heard people singing and went to see who it was. Through an open door in the side of the mound he could see people banqueting at large tables. One of the people saw him and offered him a cup. He took it but threw away the contents, not wishing to come under the spell of the fairies, and ran off with the goblet, which was made of an unknown material. This tale was recorded by William of Newburgh in the twelfth century. Another tale told of people digging into the mound and finding a golden chest. They tried to pull it out with horses, but it sank back into the mound and no one has ever been able to recover it.”

The Wikipedia website gives us more information on the site:- “Willy Howe is a large round barrow 7.5 m (25 ft) high, located between Wold Newton and Buron Fleming in the civil parish of Thwing. The mound has been recorded as being excavated several times: by Lord Londes-borough in 1857; and by Canon William Greenwell in 1887. Neither found burials or grave goods; Greenwell found a feature approximating a shallow grave. The structure has a central space, resulting from the 19th-century excavations, additionally, an earthwork ramp created as part of Greenwell’s excavations has also modified the site. Use as a Thingstead during the medieval period has been speculated. Willy Howe is registered on the National Heritage List for England as a Scheduled ancient monument. Its List Entry Number is 1008040.”

Sources / References & Related Websites:-

Bord, Janet & Colin, Ancient Mysteries of Britain, Diamond Books, 1991.

Cavendish, Richard, The English Tourists Board — Discover England — Prehistoric England, Guild Publishing (Book Club Associates), London, 1983.

Darvill, Timothy, AA – Glovebox Guide – Ancient Britain, The Publishing Division of The Automobile Association, Basingstoke, Hampshire, 1988.

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1008040

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Howe

2nd photo down is of Willy Howe in 2007 by John Phillips for Creative Commons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Willy_Howe.jpg

https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=7397

https://www.spookyisles.com/willy-howe/

Copyright © Ray Spencer, The Journal of Antiquities, 2023.