Monument record MDO266 - Bell barrow west of Cerne Down, Bincombe

Bronze Age round barrow, possibly a bell barrow or a saucer barrow. In 1972 this monument was reported as being around 90 feet in diameter with a mound around 6 feet high, and with an encircling ditch around 115 feet in diameter, possibly with a cremation burial in a cist. Visible on aerial photographs as a cropmark ring ditch with an internal bank and central pit/ hollow. Possibly a saucer barrow. The site was digitally plotted during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project.

This barrow was 35 paces in diameter and 6 feet in height. <1>

'A'. Bowl barrow or bell barrow 90 feet in diameter by 6 feet high. A surrounding ditch about 115 feet in diameter is suggested by air photographs. Possibly the barrow excavated by Warne at the north end of Bincombe Hewish, in which was a cremation in a chalk cut cist. <3>

'A' SY 67908613; round barrow in arable; diameter 35.5m height 2.2m. No visible evidence of a ditch or berm but very large size suggest a bell. 'A' re-surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. <4>

Visible on aerial photographs <7> as a cropmark ring ditch with an internal bank and central pit/ hollow. Interpreted as a possible saucer barrow. The site was digitally plotted during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project.

<1> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 90 (Monograph). SDO132.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

('A' - SY 67918613) Tumulus (NR)

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 438 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘(33) Bell (?) (SY 68 NE; 67918614) 60 yds. N. of (32). Diam. 90 ft., ht. 6 ft. Ditch about 115 ft. in diam. suggested by air photograph (V.A.P. CPE/UK 1824: 3289). Possibly contained a cremation in a chalk-cut cist.’

<4> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 02-FEB-80 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<5> Papworth, M, 1983, The South Dorset Ridgeway Project: condition and management survey, SDR 465 (Index). SDO12304.

Diameter originally 26.0m, Ht. 0.8m. Mutilated on S side. Situated in regularly ploughed ley pasture when visited. 1/4/D

<6> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South Dorset Ridgeway Barrow Survey 2010 (Unpublished document). SDO12407.

<7> 15-FEB-2005, NMR SY6886/14 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11855.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 452205 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jun 30 2023 3:44PM