Scheduled Monument: Bowl barrow 300m south east of Hyford Cottage (1015894)

EXTRACT FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE'S RECORD OF SCHEDULED MONUMENTS MONUMENT: Bowl barrow 300m south east of Hyford Cottage PARISH: WOOL DISTRICT: PURBECK COUNTY: DORSET NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 28339 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SY81978749 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on an knoll overlooking the Frome Valley to the north. The barrow is one of a pair recorded in the area.The barrow has a mound composed of earth, chalk and flint, with maximum dimensions of 15m in diameter and c.1.1m in height. The upper part of the mound has a hollow 3.5m wide and c.0.6m deep cut into it, along with a trench 1m wide which leads to the western base of the mound. These features are likely to relate to military training activities. The mound is surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. The ditch is visible to the south as a depression 3m wide and c.0.2m deep; elsewhere it has become infilled, but will survive as a buried feature. Excluded from the scheduling are all fence posts relating to the modern field boundaries, although the ground beneath is included. 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 disturbance by military activities, the bowl barrow 300m south east of Hyford Cottage survives 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 27th February 1957 as: COUNTY/NUMBER: Dorset 251 NAME: Round Barrow east of Hyford Cottage The reference of this monument is now: NATIONAL MONUMENT NUMBER: 28339 NAME: Bowl barrow 300m south east of Hyford Cottage SCHEDULING AFFIRMED ON 17th April 1997

Record last edited

Oct 11 2024 2:30PM