Monument record MDO2273 - Bowl barrow, The Knoll, Puncknowle

One of three barrows situated on the Knoll. Probable barrow, 54ft. in diam and 4ft. high. It supports a small building. Visible as a slight earthwork on aerial photographs {1} and digitally plotted for the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project.

A Bronze Age urn was found at Puncknowle in 1908 under the foundations of an old building, apparently a 'Watch-tower'. This building had been erected on a mound which is possibly a barrow. The urn, of a type "which formed a transition between the food vessel and the cinerary urn", was said to be protected by four stones standing on edge and another placed upon the top. Now in Dorchester Museum. <1>

(SY 53508778) Probable barrow on the knoll, 54ft diameter and 4ft high. <3>

A bowl barrow 20 paces in diameter and 4ft high. <4>

A small stone building stands upon a flat-topped mound which probably represents the bowl barrow. The mound is 18.0m in diameter and 1.2m high. There is no visible ditch, and the N and NW sides of the barrow have been dug into. <5>

SY 53508779. Puncknowle 3. Bowl barrow, cinerary urn found 1908. Dimensions as authority <2>. <6>

One of three barrows situated on the Knoll. It supports a small building. Visible as a slight earthwork on aerial photographs <7> and digitally plotted for the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project.

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1914, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 51 (Serial). SDO23.

<2> Grinsell, L V, 1935-54, Dorset Barrows 1935-54 Manuscript (Unpublished document). SWX1556.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 191 (Monograph). SDO97.

<4> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, R1 NVQ 16-FEB-1955 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<5> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 07-APR-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<6> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 129 (Monograph). SDO132.

<7> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1824 3309-10 (Aerial Photograph). SDO12157.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 450526 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 16 2025 4:27PM