Monument record MDO2052 - Neolithic long barrow, Portesham

A low mound and associated standing stones, visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. Remains of alleged Neolithic long barrow also interpreted as two recumbent and partially buried sarsens with a probable Bronze Age bowl barrow to the north. The monument has suffered plough damage; the stones were intact and in position in 1990 but by June 2006 they had gone and the monument appeared only as a slight circular rise in the field.

(SY 59648689) "?Destroyed dolmen - both fallen. Mound to NW". <3>

Two large stones, perhaps at the E end of an otherwise destroyed chambered long barrow. Probable E-W orientation. <4>

Two recumbent stones, each with a NE-SW orientation. The stones lie 6.0m apart; both are of conglomerate; the W stone is the
larger and is approximately 3.0m long, 1.5m wide, with 0.6m visible above ground level. The E stone is 2.0m long, 1.0m wide
and 0.5m above ground level. 10.0m to the NW of the western stone is a grass covered mound 17.0m in diameter and 0.5m high. There is no other evidence of a mound connected wth the stones, and although this mound is mutilated it tends to give a NW-SE orientation to the long barrow. Side ditches are not discernable.<6>

SY 59658688. These stones and mound are listed by OGS Crawford in the Map of Neolithic Wessex as a long barrow orientated NW to SE, with the two stones presumably as the remains of the chamber at the SE end, but there is now no evidence for this. Instead RCHM describe the site as two recumbent and partially buried sarsens with a probable ?bowl barrow to the N.

The two stones are probably the only remains of a 'collapsed dolmen' illustrated in Authy 1, which is described by Daniel <5> as of doubtful authenticity. The photograph which illustrates them shows four or five stones and suggests a collapsed chamber with a large tilted capstone. The probable barrow to the N is about 67ft diameter, 21/2 ft high and has been much ploughed. <10>

Neolithic long barrow, listed at Portesham I by Grinsell <7> with an amendment <11> quoting the RCHM <10>.

SY 595867. Long barrow 300 metres west of Hampton Barn at the top of Portesham Hill. <9>

The stones were intact and in position in 1990 but by June 2006 they had gone and the monument appeared only as a slight circular rise in the field.

The site lies in an area of set aside in the corner of an arable field. The remains comprise a very slight, ovoid mound, orientated N/S, 23m long, 20m wide and 0.3m high. It is difficult to ascertain whether this is the remains of a ploughed over round barrow or long mound. The stones described above remained until the early 21st century, when they were removed and possibly buried by the edge of the field (information from EH Historic Environment Field Adviser). <13>

The site was surveyed using differential GPS at a scale of 1: 200 as part of a survey of the long barrows on the South Dorset Ridgeway carried out by English Heritage and the Ridgeway Survey Group. <14>

A low circular mound is visible at SY5962286883 on aerial photographs taken in 1968 <16> and possible standing stones on RAF photographs taken in 1947 <17>. The site was digitally plotted from aerial photographs <16-18> during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project. The stones are separately recorded in MDO2067.

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1908, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club for 1908, lxxiv (Serial). SDO19.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 1 Inch to 1 mile, 6th edition (Map). SDO17506.

(SY 59648689) Long Barrow (NR)

<3> Crawford, O G S, Annotated record map 6 inch (Map). SWX7265.

<4> Grinsell, L V, 1935-54, Dorset Barrows 1935-54 Manuscript (Unpublished document). SWX1556.

<5> Daniel, Glyn E, 1950, The Prehistoric Chamber Tombs of England and Wales, 235 (Monograph). SDO18028.

<6> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 29-MAR-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<7> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 81 (Monograph). SDO132.

<8> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1967 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 59628687) Stones (NAT)

<9> Department of the Environment, 1978, Department of the Environment (IAM) Ancient Monuments of England (Vol 2), 68 (Monograph). SWX1687.

<10> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 450 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘(44) Bowl (?) (SY 58 NE; 59658688). Diam. about 67 ft., ht. 2½ ft. Much ploughed; probably associated with two adjacent stones immediately S. (see Stones, Portesham (59)). (Dorset Procs. XXIX (1908), lxxiv; O.S. Map of Neolithic Wessex, no. 144; P.C.T.E.W., 235.).’

<11> Grinsell, L V, 1982, Dorset Barrows Supplement, 30 (Monograph). SWX1703.

<12> Papworth, M, 1983, The South Dorset Ridgeway Project: condition and management survey, SDR 143 (Index). SDO12304.

17.0m diameter and 0.5m high. In ley pasture which is regularly ploughed.
7/7/E

<13> Riley, H, Field Investigators Comments: Hazel Riley, December 2006 (Unpublished document). SDO17469.

<14> Riley, H, 2008, Long Barrows on the South Dorset Ridgeway. A Survey by English Heritage and the Ridgeway Survey Group (Unpublished document). SDO15192.

<15> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South Dorset Ridgeway Barrow Survey 2010 (Unpublished document). SDO12407.

<16> 01-FEB-1968, MAL 6804 051 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11661.

<17> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 1070-1 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11672.

<18> 06-DEC-2006, NMR SY 5986/5-8 (24499/34-7) (Aerial Photograph). SDO11671.

<19> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<20> Historic England, Historic England Archive, F55/98/5 (Index). SDO14738.

VIEW OF TWO FALLEN STONES - PROBABLY THE REMAINS OF A CHAMBERED LONG BARROW WHICH IS NOW ALL BUT DESTROYED

<21> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OS55/F98/5 (Index). SDO14738.

SUPPOSED LONG BARROW AT PORTESHAM,RECUMBENT STONES FROM EAST

<22> National Record of the Historic Environment, 450306 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 14 2023 10:45AM