Drake Howe, Cringle Moor, Coast to Coast
Drake Howe Cairn on Cringle Moor
Drake Howe, Cringle Moor, Kirby, Coast to Coast
Drake Howe is also known as Odin's Grave. It is an ancient Bronze Age Round Barrow, a Bowl Barrow, sitting atop the 432m summit of Cringle Moor. The Barrow is a Scheduled Monument. Lord Stones is about 1 mile to the west of the Barrow and Cold Moor 1 mile to the east.
It is sited in a more or less central position on the moor and is the fulcrum of a circular row of ancient Boundary Stones that lead from the River Leven south of Stokesley, eastwards to Kirby and then north to the Raisdale Col at the foot of Cringle Moor, westwards over the north edge of the Moor to Drake Howe and then to descend north via Dromonby to rejoin the Stone Avenue south of Stokesley.
Drake Howe Bowl Barrow
A path leads south from the Coast to Coast path above Kirby Bank to the Drake Howe burial cairn. The Barrow is a Round Barrow and has a diameter of 23m, with a height of about 2m. At the north western end of the Barrow is a large summit cairn. The dip to the south of the cairn indicates an old intrusion into the Barrow.
Cairn on Drake Howe
The Cairn on Drake Howe is positioned on the western side of the Round Barrow, and so most of the Barrow is visible. The large depression in the centre appears to be as a result of the collapse of the interior, most likely following an excavation in the past.
Sunken Core Drake Howe
Bowl Barrows were usually constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes with ditches. The rubble covered single or multiple burial chambers. They often occur in clusters, in which they represent cemeteries. Bowl Barrows often occupy prominent locations as is the case with Drake Howe, which is 434m summit of Cringle Moor. Drake Howe is also a territorial marker.
Top of Drake Howe
From the Cairn the dip in the Barrow, where entry was obtained, if fairly obvious. Drake is thought to attain from the old Norse word Draugr. 'A draugr is a revenant, i.e. a re-animated corpse of the deceased that is interred within a burial cairn. So it is an undead spirit. The spirits are thought to remain at a grave site to guard any treasure that was buried with the corpse. This may reveal a motive for the break in.
Drake Howe Boundary Stone
This ancient Boundary Stone is found at the foot of Drake Howe. The Stone is positioned to the north east of the Cairn. There appears to be cup marks on it and some modern grafitti.
Coast to Coast Trail Guide
Hiking the Coast to Coast
"Hiking the Coast to Coast" is a digitally enhanced eBook available from Apple Books for all people who have either a Mac, an iPhone or an iPad, and is designed to accompany you on your walk of the Coast to Coast path. The trail guide contains Ordnance Survey maps and other advanced mapping features, step by step directions, hundreds of colour photographs, details of the route, its conditions in different weather and research snippets relating to places of interest along the way.
