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Douthwaite pillow mounds is a group of earthworks located in Yorkshire, England, comprising a series of ridge and furrow formations characteristic of medieval agricultural practice. These mounds, which date to the medieval period, represent the landscape modifications created through intensive arable cultivation, with the distinctive ridged topography produced by repeated ploughing and the accumulation of soil over centuries. The site demonstrates the physical evidence of medieval farming techniques and land management practices across what would have been open or semi-open fields. Such earthworks are significant archaeological features as they preserve beneath the ground surface deposits and structures that illuminate medieval rural economy and settlement patterns, and they remain visible on the landscape as legible testimony to historical land use.
Douthwaite pillow mounds is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1016024. View the official record →
Douthwaite pillow mounds is a group of earthworks located in Yorkshire, England, comprising a series of ridge and furrow formations characteristic of medieval agricultural practice. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1016024.
Douthwaite pillow mounds is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1016024.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Neville Castle, 430m north west of the parish church (3.6 km), Moated site known as Vivers Hill Castle, 300m north east of the parish church (3.7 km), Starfits round barrow, 450m north east of Starfits House (3.9 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Douthwaite pillow mounds's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Douthwaite pillow mounds stands on Corallian Group, bedrock that formed in the Oxfordian. The rock here is limestone, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.