Monument record MDO4362 - Bowl barrow north west of Warren Hill, Milborne St Andrew

A bowl barrow near the summit of a ridge and crossed by a hedgerow. The mound of the barrow has been cut away by ploughing on two sides. In 1970 this monument was described as around 26 feet in diameter with a mound about 2½ feet high. This and a nearby barrow opened in 1881 by Mansell-Pleydell. This contained only ashes and a piece of pottery. The site is visible as a low earthwork mound on lidar imagery and was digitally recorded during the Dorset Upper Cerne and Piddle AIM Project.

A bowl barrow, under cultivation. 15 paces in diameter and 1 ft 6" high. <3>

An almost shapeless mound with an approximate diameter of 12.0m and approx height of 0.4m. It has no surrounding ditch and a modern hedge passes over the western quadrant. This hedge runs in a north - south direction. A fence running east - west crosses the northern quadrant. The northern quadrant is under the plough and this part of the barrow is almost ploughed out.

The southern quadrant is under grass and has been ploughed down.

There were no surface finds.

Classification of bowl barrow accepted from auth 3. <4>

A bowl barrow at SY 79259617, on a gentle slope near the summit of an E-W ridge, lies within a hedgerow and has been cut away by ploughing until it is now an irregular mound; it bears no obvious relationship to the much ploughed remains of 'Celtic' fields around it. Diam. (N-S) 26 ft ht 2 1/2 ft. (Probably one of three barrows on Warren Hill opened in 1881. See SY 79 NE 52). <5>

SY 79259616: Re-surveyed at 1:2500 on M.S.D. <6>

Three round barrows on Warren Hill (SY 7995) (probably SY 79 NE31, 32 & 50) were opened by J C Mansel-Pleydell in 1881. The first barrow, which was on the summit of the hill, contained only ashes and a piece of pottery. The second contained three cremations, possibly primary, in cists. The third (almost certainly SY 79 NE50) was situated in a hedge running east to west on the south side of the hill, near the Tolpuddle boundary hedge. It contained a thick layer of black ashes at the centre and, on its north side, the remains of a coarse urn. <1-2>

It is more likely that Mansel-Playdell's first barrow is SY 79NE50 rather than his third. The Tolpuddle boundary hedge, in which the latter is situated, is on top of and not on the south side of the hill, so it is quite possible that his barrow was in the hedge, to the south of the boundary hedge. His first barrow cannot be either SY 79 NE 31 or SY 79 NE 32, because neither of these are on the summit. <6>

The site is visible as a low earthwork mound on lidar imagery and was digitally recorded during the Dorset Upper Cerne and Piddle AIM Project. <9>

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1884, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 30-31 (Serial). SDO4.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1902 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 79259617) Tumulus (NR)

<3> Grinsell, L V, Dorset Barrows (Unpublished MSs) (Unpublished document). SWX2678.

<4> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F1 JR 18-SEP-1952 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<5> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 1, 181 (Monograph). SDO146.

‘(20) Bowl (79259617), 465 yds. S.E. of (19), on a gentle slope near the summit of an E.-W. ridge, lies within a hedgerow and has been cut away by ploughing until it is now an irregular mound; it bears no obvious relationship to the much ploughed remains of ‘Celtic’ fields around it. Diam. (N.-S.) 26 ft., ht. 2½ ft.’

<6> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F2 JGB 07-OCT-1980 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 454575 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 454618 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<9> Environment Agency, 15-DEC-2023, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO20691.

Record last edited

Oct 11 2024 11:18AM