Scheduled Monument: Two bowl barrows 350m north of Bere Down Farm (1016072)

EXTRACT FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE'S RECORD OF SCHEDULED MONUMENTS MONUMENT: Two bowl barrows 350m north of Bere Down Farm PARISH: BERE REGIS DISTRICT: PURBECK COUNTY: DORSET NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 28350 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SY83969725 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument includes two bowl barrows aligned north east-south west and situated on the south-facing slope of Bere Down, overlooking the Bere Valley to the south west. The barrows form part of a wider group of seven which together form a round barrow cemetery on Bere Down. The barrows each have a mound composed of earth, flint and chalk with maximum dimensions of 15m in diameter and between c.0.25-0.4m in height. Each mound is surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. The ditches have become infilled over the years, but will survive as buried features c.1.5m wide. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them, contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are considered worthy of protection. Despite some reduction by ploughing, the two bowl barrows 350m north of Bere Down Farm survive comparatively well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the cemetery and the landscape in which they were constructed. MONUMENT INCLUDED IN THE SCHEDULE ON 17th March 1997

Record last edited

Apr 20 2011 5:52AM