Monument record MDO39 - Barrow on Wears Hill, Abbotsbury

A Bronze Age bowl barrow, one of a group running along Wears Hill. In 1952 this monument was reported as being around 38 feet in diameter with a mound about one foot high. Grinsell (1959) recorded this as a mound 10 paces in diameter and 1.5 feet in height, and thought it possibly upcast from a pit.

'A' - Doubtful; a mound, diameter 10 paces, height 11/2ft. Perhaps upcast from a pit to the south. <2>

Similar information. <3>

'A'. A grass covered, near circular mound, 14.0m diameter, 0.5m high. This is a possible bowl barrow. In profile it is fairly well shaped, it is in close proximity to other barrows but in the immediate vicinity the ground, now arable, has at sometime been disturbed.<4>

Abbotsbury 1,3,4 and 5. Bowl barrows listed, information as Authy 2. <5>

SY 575863. Group of five round barrows on White Hill. Scheduled. <6>

A barrow is visible as cropmarks and low earthworks on aerial photographs at SY5746886329. It was digitally plotted during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project. <9-11>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1903 (Map). SWX1540.

('A' - SY 57478633; 'B' - SY 57538634; 'C' - SY 57628633; 'D' - SY 57608627). Tumuli (NR)

<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 Grinsell, L V, 1935-54, Dorset Barrows 1935-54 Manuscript (Unpublished document).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), 11 (Monograph). SDO97.

'BARROWS, on or near the ridgeway running along Wears Hill and White Hill on the N. side of the parish, form three groups. ... The third group consists of six barrows; ... (f), 60 yards W. of (e), is 38 ft. in diam. and 1 ft. high. '

<4> Swatridge, G C, Various, Field Investigators Comments GCS, F1 GCS 24-MAR-55 (Unpublished document). SWX1169.

<5> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 85 (Monograph). SDO132.

<6> Department of the Environment, 1978, Department of the Environment (IAM) Ancient Monuments of England (Vol 2), 59 (Monograph). SWX1687.

<7> Papworth, M, 1983, The South Dorset Ridgeway Project: condition and management survey, SDR 42 (Index). SDO12304.

No longer visible in a field of ley pasture. Ploughed out. 1/7/E

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 Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South Dorset Ridgeway Barrow Survey 2010 (Unpublished document).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

<9> 2002, DCC SY5786 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11638.

<10> 06-DEC-2006, NMR SY 5786/2-5 (24500/26-29) (Aerial Photograph). SDO11637.

<11> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 1072-3 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11631.

<12> National Record of the Historic Environment, 450365 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 23 2024 5:15PM