EWX1085 - Mound at Hengistbury House, Purewell, Christchurch; excavation 1922

H St George Gray excavated a mound in a pasture field adjoining the north side of Stanpit Marsh and within the grounds of Hengistbury House during 1922. The project was funded by H Druitt. The mound was circular and approximately 2ft above the surrounding level field. It was surrounded by a slight ditch up to 0.4ft deep and the whole (including the ditch) measured approximately 72ft in diameter. St George Gray excavated a trench aligned N-S, 43ft long and 6ft wide down to natural gravel. In the centre of the mound the trench was extended to the west by a further 5ft for a distance of 8ft. He concluded that the mound was of modern origin because the soil was loose and contained modern pottery mixed with neolithic flints. He also found modern wooden fence posts in the ditch surrounding the mound. Druitt, however, felt that that the large numbers of flints (76 flakes and nine flint tools) found from within the mound suggested that it might still be ancient but severely disturbed in recent times. 2nd and 3rd edition OS maps show a circular enclosure of the correct size (approximately 72ft or 20m) containing fir trees at this location. This suggests that the mound is a late 19th century fir plantation, possibly connected with landscaping of grounds at Hengistbury House.