Monument record MDO3719 - Long barrow on Hambledon Hill, Child Okeford

A long barrow on a south-facing slope and situated within the Neolithic causewayed camp on Hambledon Hill. In 1970 this monument was described as a short, parallel sided earthwork aligned north – south, with traces of side ditches. The mound was about 85 feet long, 43 feet wide and between 3½ feet and 7 feet high. Parts of the mound had been quarried away.

The long barrow was destroyed in the early 1960s and its remains, together with its side ditches, were totally excavated in 1977. Fragments of human bone were found in the mound and pottery was found in the primary ditch silts. One of the ditches had been recut and 'linear flint cairns' had been subsequently built in the silted ditches. <2>

ST 84891205 The long barrow is of an oval outline, measuring 24.5 m long, 9.0 m wide and 1.5 m high. The side ditches are barely discernible as level areas. Surveyed at 1:2500 on PFD. <3>

An early but fairly short Neolithic long barrow on Hambledon Hill, totally excavated in 1977 and now reconstructed as an earthwork. Both long barrows on Hambledon Hill appear to have been known by the same name by the later 19th century. This, the more southerly of the two long barrows, is situated between the main causewayed enclosure (ST 81 SW 17) and the southern cross-dyke (ST 81 SW 63), and may pre-date the initial construction of both of these earthworks. Survey by RCHME in 1959 showed the barrow to be circa 26 metres long by 13 metres wide, diminishing in height from circa 1 metre at the northern end. Its slightly trapezoid shape, together with an opening at the northern end in the surrounding ditch (revealed by later excavation) suggest that it faced north, towards the main causewayed enclosure. The mound was almost completely destroyed prior to ploughing, and was consequently totally excavated by Roger Mercer in 1977. It has since been reconstructed as a simple oval mound, 27 metres long by 10 metres wide and up to 1.3 metres high. Excavation showed the flanking ditches to have been dug as a series of interlinked pits which curved inwards at both ends of the barrow and linked up at the southern end. The ditches had experienced a similar sequence of use and re-use to those of the main causewayed enclosure. Large quantities of Neolithic bowl pottery were recovered from the primary ditch silts. A few fragments of human bone were recovered from the bulldozed material which had formed the mound.

(ST 8489 1206) Between late May and late August 1996 the Cambridge and Exeter offices of RCHME carried out an earthwork survey and aerial photographic interpretation of the complex of monuments on Hambledon Hill as part of the project to record Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic period (5). The reconstruction of the barrow is a mound 27m long, 10m wide and up to 1.3m wide. The length would appear to have been restricted by the space available between the main causewayed enclosure (ST 81 SW 17) to the N and the S cross-dyke (ST 81 SW 63). The alignment is at right angles to the cross-dyke, with the front probably downslope to the SSE. Its position appears to relate to a slight but distinct angle change in the southern cross-dyke.

Radiocarbon determinations undertaken subsequent to the survey indicate the barrow to be possibly the earliest of the excavated monuments on the hill.

For further details, see RCHME level 3 client report and plan at 1:1000 scale, held in archive. <6>

See the full publication on Hambledon Hill for more details of the surrounding earthworks. <7>

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 1, 83 (Monograph). SDO146.

'(24) LONG BARROW (84891207) on Hambledon Hill, at about 590 ft. O.D. on a gentle S.-facing slope, just below the highest part of the hill, lies within the earthworks of the Neolithic causewayed camp. Its N.-S. alignment (358º) does not appear to have been determined by topography. Short and parallel sided, it is about 85 ft. long and 43 ft. wide, rising in height from 3½ ft. as its N. end to 7 ft. as its S. end, part of which has been quarried away. In cross profile it is steep and straight sided with a narrow top. There are traces of parallel side ditches, clear on the W. but much disturbed on the E. (Plate 132).'

<1.1> Royal Air Force, F22/58/1332 078-9 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18411.

<2> Mercer, R, 1977, Hambledon Hill 1977 (Interim Report), 6 (Monograph). SDO20388.

<3> Chaplin, C P, Various, Field Investigators Comments CC, F1 CC 06-APR-78 (Unpublished document). SWX3450.

<4> English Heritage, 1986, English Heritage Archaeology Review 1986 (Serial). SDO16657.

<5> English Heritage, 1997, English Heritage Archaeology Review 1996-7, 83-4 (Serial). SDO16656.

<6> RCHME: Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic (Monograph). SWX1665.

<7> Mercer, R, and Healy, F, 2008, Hambledon Hill, Dorset, England. Excavation and survey of a Neolithic monument complex and its surrounding landscape (Monograph). SDO13474.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 206260 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 23 2025 10:10AM