Monument record MDO18767 - Fordington Farm round barrow, Dorchester; round barrow

Site of a barrow at Fordington Farm. It was identified by the Ordnance Survey in 1954 as a mound 42 metres across and 1 metre high with no trace of a surrounding ditch. It was excavated in 1988 in advance of development. The barrow had a complex sequence of development. At the centre were two grave pits. One contained two groups of disarticulated human remains (adult male and child); the other featured three similar groups (adult male, adult female and infant). A radiocarbon date of 2347-2039 BC (calibrated) was obtained from the former, and one of 2290-1970 BC from the latter. There were no grave goods but both graves may have contained a coffin or timber lining. The pits were surrounded by a ditch comprising four separate segments of varying length, enclosing an area circa 10 metres in diameter. Traces of a mound within this area were observed. Subsequently, the mound was enlarged, and this phase appears to be associated with a series of concentric circles of stake-holes. Another phase of barrow enlargement was associated with a ditch enclosing an area circa 23 metres in diameter. There was no berm separating mound from ditch. A final phase of enlargement was again accompanied by another concentric ditch, this time enclosing an area circa 42 metres in diameter. There appears to have been a berm, thus turning the bowl barrow into a bell barrow. Two burials of uncertain phasing were recovered. A pit cut through the centre of the primary mound contained a crouched adult male with some cattle bones, and a barbed and tanged arrowhead "in the pelvic region". However, it was dated to 2459-2201 BC. A small pit cut into the backfill of this grave contained an inverted collared urn containing the cremated remains of an adult plus a small copper alloy knife dagger. Some pits of later, but unknown, date were also found as were some linear features (field boundaries?) and a grave containing an adult and an infant of suggested Roman date.

SY 69898988. A grass covered mound crossed by an east-west fence. It is 40.0m. east-west and 42.0m. north-south.
Maximum height 1.0m. No ditch. It has been ploughed and spread and south of the fence it merges gradually into the surrounding ground. In view of the proximity of other barrows this mound may be a barrow. On the other hand it may be a natural feature. If a barrow it is a bowl barrow. <1>

SY 69898989. A regular mound in a pasture field, diameter 30.0m, approximately and height 1.0m., which has been truncated by a track. It has the appearance of a ploughed-down bowl barrow. <3>

<1> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F1 JR 21-AUG-54 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 444 (Monograph). SDO150.

<3> Swatridge, G C, Various, Field Investigators Comments GCS, F2 JGB 05-JUN-80 (Unpublished document). SWX1169.

<4> Bellamy, P S, 1991, The excavation of Fordington Farm Round Barrow. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO9657.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 451853 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 28 2022 1:51PM