Scheduled Monument: Three bowl barrows 650m south west of Bere Down Farm (1018193)

EXTRACT FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE'S RECORD OF SCHEDULED MONUMENTS MONUMENT: Three bowl barrows 650m south west of Bere Down Farm PARISH: BERE REGIS DISTRICT: PURBECK COUNTY: DORSET NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 29082 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SY83419664 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument includes three bowl barrows, aligned south east by north west, situated on a ridge overlooking a dry valley to the west, with distant views over the Bere Valley to the south. The barrows were all recorded by L V Grinsell in 1959 and the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England in 1970. Each has a mound composed of gravel and earth, with maximum dimensions of between 26m and 40m in diameter and between about 0.3m to about 0.9m in height. Each barrow 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 each will survive as a buried feature 2m wide. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar, although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form and a diversity of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring across most of lowland Britain. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection. Despite some reduction in height caused by ploughing, the three bowl barrows 650m south west of Bere Down Farm survive comparatively well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. SCHEDULING HISTORY Monument included in the Schedule on 14th July 1961 as: COUNTY/NUMBER: Dorset 637 NAME: Round barrow north of Millum Head The reference of this monument is now: NATIONAL MONUMENT NUMBER: 29082 NAME: Three bowl barrows 650m south west of Bere Down Farm SCHEDULING REVISED ON 17th May 2000

Record last edited

Oct 9 2024 3:41PM