Monument record MDO44434 - Round barrow on Hambledon Hill, Child Okeford

A poorly preserved possible Bronze Age round barrow on Hambledon Hill. The earthworks on Hambledon Hill were surveyed by RCHME in 1996. See the parent record (ST 81 SW 17) and the archive report for full details. The mound lies on the slight rise which forms the northern crest of the hillfort spur. The location is known to be the site of an Ordnance Survey triangulation pillar, and the immediate vicinity has been heavily disturbed, perhaps in the course of removal of the pillar. As the Ordnance Survey did sometimes construct mounds to support their pillars, the identification as a barrow remains tentative. The sub-circular mound is 12 metres in diameter and up to 0.2 metres high. It would appear to have lain beyond the limits of post medieval ploughing. A possible sub-circular mound is visible as a very low and indistinct earthwork on 1920s aerial photographs and Environment Agency lidar imagery. Its origin is uncertain but might be the feature recorded at this location. It was digitally plotted during the Mid Dorset Downs AIM project.

(ST 1291 8431) 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.

A low circular mound, c.11m in diameter and up to 0.3m high was identified on the highest point of the N tip of the N spur of Hambledon Hill. It has been severely mutilated by the erection and removal of an OS Trig. pillar on its summit, and therefore cannot be identified as a barrow with any certainty, but given its topographic location, may well be one.

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

A possible sub-circular mound is visible as a very low and indistinct earthwork roughly 12m by 11m in size on 1920s aerial photographs and Environment Agency lidar imagery (ALK 1924; EA 2018). A slight suggestion of an external ditch is visible on a 1924 aerial photograph (ALK 1924), but confidence is low. The origin of the feature is uncertain but might be the possible barrow recorded at this location. It was digitally plotted during the Mid Dorset Downs AIM project.

Alexander Keiller Collection, 14-JUL-1924, ALK 7431/249 (Aerial Photograph). SDO21516.

Environment Agency, xx-xxx-2018, Environment Agency National Lidar Programme DTM 1M (Aerial Photograph). SDO21483.

<1> RCHME: Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic (Monograph). SWX1665.

<2> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 1080702 (Index). SDO14738.

Hambledon Hill

<3> Historic England, Historic England Archive, AF1079113 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME: Hambledon Hill, Dorset. The Neolithic causewayed enclosure complex was surveyed by a team from RCHME Cambridge, Newcastle and Swindon offices in October 1996 as part of the Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic Project.Contents : 10 plans, 2 sections, report, 15 ground models, 2 contour plots, 2 control plots, 23 correspondence, 13 prints, photographic reproduction of plan of Shroton of 1767 showing the earthworksCondition : INTACT

<4> Historic England, Historic England Archive, MD000926 (Index). SDO14738.

Hambledon Hill (1 of 2)/ink survey. See also GAM 1079875

<5> Historic England, Historic England Archive, MD000927 (Index). SDO14738.

Hambledon Hill (2 of 2)/ink survey

<6> Historic England, Historic England Archive, MD000928 (Index). SDO14738.

Hambledon Hill (1 of 8)/pencil survey

<7> Historic England, Historic England Archive, MD000929 (Index). SDO14738.

Hambledon Hill (2 of 8)/pencil survey

<8> Historic England, Historic England Archive, MD000930 (Index). SDO14738.

Hambledon Hill (3 of 8)/pencil survey

<9> Historic England, Historic England Archive, MD000931 (Index). SDO14738.

Hambledon Hill, outer rampart/pencil section

<10> Historic England, Historic England Archive, ME000222 (Index). SDO14738.

Hambledon Hill (4 of 8)/pencil survey

<11> Historic England, Historic England Archive, ME000223 (Index). SDO14738.

Hambledon Hill (5 of 8)/pencil survey

<12> Historic England, Historic England Archive, ME000224 (Index). SDO14738.

Hambledon Hill (6 of 8)/pencil survey

<13> Historic England, Historic England Archive, ME000225 (Index). SDO14738.

Hambledon Hill (7 of 8)/pencil survey

<14> Historic England, Historic England Archive, ME000226 (Index). SDO14738.

Hambledon Hill (8 of 8)/pencil survey

<15> Historic England, Historic England Archive, ME000227 (Index). SDO14738.

Hambleldon Hill, outer rampart/ink section

<16> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1058061 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 8 2025 1:18PM