Siward's Howe, sometimes written ''Siwards How'' and also known as Heslington Hill or Bunny Hill, is a

terminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front edge ...

located to the south-east of the city of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. The howe is situated north west of the Morrell Library building of the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

. The southern side of the howe is part of

Alcuin College Alcuin College is a college of the University of York located on Siward's Howe in the English city of York in the county of Yorkshire. It is one out of ten colleges of the university, being the nearest to the library on the Heslington West part ...

of the

. Its imposing

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

is visible from many parts of the nearby suburbs of

Tang Hall Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

and

Osbaldwick Osbaldwick is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of the City of York in North Yorkshire, England. The population of the civil parish as taken at the Census 2011 was 2,902. It has been in existence since at least the 11th centur ...

. Howe, when derived from the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

: ''haugr'', means hill, knoll, or mound and may refer to a tumulus, or barrow. Siward's Howe is named for

Siward, Earl of Northumbria Siward ( or more recently ) or Sigurd ( ang, Sigeweard, non, Sigurðr digri) was an important earl of 11th-century northern England. The Old Norse nickname ''Digri'' and its Latin translation ''Grossus'' ("the stout") are given to him by near-c ...

, the 11th-century

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

warrior. He was romanticised in the

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

play, ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

''. Siward died at York during 1055 and is rumoured to have been buried beneath the

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...

at the wooded summit.Archaeological Evaluation. Heslington Hill. Heslington York. (University of York. January 1997)

References

Other sources

*Aird, William M. (2004)
''Siward, earl of Northumbria (d. 1055), magnate''
(Oxford Dictionary of National Biography) University of York Moraines of Europe Geography of York Mountains and hills of North Yorkshire {{York-geo-stub