Monument record MDO2946 - Long barrow, one of the Culliford Tree Group,Whitcombe

A long barrow situated just below the shoulder of a broad ridge. In 1970 this monument was reported as being an earthwork around 170 feet long with side ditches. The mound was about 50 feet wide and 7 feet high.

Long Barrow (SY 69978567) - sited about 450 ft above O D just below the shoulder of a broad ridge on ground dipping north west. On a bearing of 46o, it is about 170 ft long, 50 ft wide and about 7 ft high; at the north east end is a sharp rise to an additional mound, probably a later round barrow (see below), with a total height of 12 ft. Remains of side ditches are obscured by undergrowth and trees. Round barrow (?)(SY 69988567) Dia 40 ft., ht 5 ft., on top of north east end of long barrow. <1> <3>

Long barrow generally as described by RCHM (2). Overall length including round barrow is 51.0m, average width 16.5m, height 2.3m. A 22.0m length of ditch is visible on the SE side, that on the NW is now silted and indeterminate. Diameter of (?) bowl barrow 21.5m and height 2.8m. Both are overgrown. Re-surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. <4>

A Neolithic long barrow located just north of the Culliford Tree barrow group. Listed by RCHME as Whitcombe 5 and by Grinsell as Whitcombe I, it is orientated roughly northeast-southwest, with the northeastern end being the taller, wider end. A probable bowl barrow (SY 68 NE 184) stands on top of the long barrow towards its northeastern end. In 1979, the Ordnance Survey described the long barrow as a mound 51 metres long and an average of 16.5 metres wide and 2.3 metres high. A 22 metre length of ditch is visible beside the mound on the southeast side. <1> <3-5>

The site lies on the edge of Came Wood, between the two dry valleys which run north down into Whitcombe, at SY 6997 8567. It comprises a flat-topped, sub-rectangular mound with a round mound on top of its northeast end. The mound is orientated NE-SW and is 52m long. The rectangular mound is 12m wide and 1m high. The round mound is 20m in diameter and 1.5m high. A ditch, 34m long, 1-4m wide and 0.6m deep lies on the southern side of the mound. Slight hollows on the top of both ends probably represent the remains of old excavation trenches, although there are no recorded excavations at the site. The hollow in the edge of the ditch is caused by a fallen tree: the site lies within Came Wood and now virtually obscured by trees and undergrowth. The monument is a long barrow with a large round barrow incorporated into its northeast end. The long barrow lies 400m to the northwest of the Broadmayne bank barrow and on the northern edge of the Culliford Tree round barrow group. <6>

The site was surveyed using differential GPS and EDM at a scale of 1: 500 as part of a survey of the long barrows on the South Dorset Ridgeway carried out by English Heritage and the Ridgeway Survey Group. <7>

<1> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 82 (Monograph). SDO132.

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

(SY 69988566) Long Barrow (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, 432 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘(5) LONG BARROW (SY 68 NE; 69978567; Fig. p. 458), 400 yds. N.W. of the bank barrow, Broadmayne (19), is sited about 450 ft. above O.D. just below the shoulder of a broad ridge on ground dipping N.W. On a bearing of 40°, it is about 170 ft. long, 50 ft. wide and about 7 ft. high; at the N.E. end is a sharp rise to an additional mound, probably a later round barrow (Whitcombe (8)), with a total height of 12 ft. (see profile, p. 458). Remains of side ditches are obscured by undergrowth and trees (Hutchins II, 291.)’

<4> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 21-DEC-79 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<5> Grinsell, L V, 1982, Dorset Barrows Supplement, 30 (Monograph). SWX1703.

<6> Riley, H, Field Investigators Comments: Hazel Riley, January 2007 (Unpublished document). SDO17469.

<7> Riley, H, 2008, Long Barrows on the South Dorset Ridgeway: a survey by English Heritage and the Ridgeway Survey Group (Unpublished document). SDO15192.

<8> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South Dorset Ridgeway Barrow Survey 2010 (Unpublished document). SDO12407.

<9> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<10> Historic England, Historic England Archive, AF00268 (Index). SDO14738.

Long Barrows on the South Dorset Ridgeway, Dorset

<11> National Record of the Historic Environment, 452087 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 16 2025 7:07PM