Monument record MDO4905 - Pillow mound, Earl's Hill, Tarrant Gunville

A pillow mound on the southern slope of Earl's Hill. The mound runs along the contour, with a shallow ditch on the up-hill side and a terrace on the down-hill side.

(ST 90741422) Pillow Mound (NR). <4>

(31) PILLOW MOUND (90741422), an unploughed 'island surrounded by arable on the steep S. slope of Earl's Hill, lies parallel with the contours and is 85 ft. long and 16 ft. wide. A shallow ditch 7 ft. wide lies along the up-hill side, and a terrace 9 ft. wide, probably the remains of a ditch, lies along the down-hill side of the mound. From above the mound stands 1 ft. high; from below it is 4 ft. high. (Wessex from the Air, 20.) <5>

Two pillow mounds on Stubhampton Down; one at ST 90741423 and the other at approximately ST 90701423. <3>

Pillow mound at ST 90741422 is as described by RCHM (2) but is now slightly disturbed at the west end. Revised at 1:2500 on AM.

At ST 90601429 (approx), 150m northwest of the first mound, is another pillow mound occupying a similar position, it is in poor condition having been nearly levelled by scrub clearance. Length 18.0m width 4.2m, height on downhill side 0.4m and on uphill side 0.1m, there is a vestige of ditch on the north side of the mound. Divorced survey at 1:2500 on OS 495.

The position of a pillow mound at ST 90701423 given by Grinsell <3> is erroneous.

The first mound is visible on OS A/Ps but the second is not. <6>

Note: 2 pillow mounds were originally recorded under a single NRHE UID but were subsequently separated into 2 separate records on the Dorset HER - MDO4921 and MDO4905

<1> Ordnance Survey, AP (OS 73-371 094) (Aerial Photograph). SDO18528.

<2> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 133 (Monograph). SDO132.

<3> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey map 6 inches to 1 mile, 1963 (Map). SDO11924.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 96 (Monograph). SDO99.

‘(31) PILLOW MOUND (90741422), an unploughed 'island surrounded by arable on the steep S. slope of Earl's Hill, lies parallel with the contours and is 85 ft. long and 16 ft. wide. A shallow ditch 7 ft. wide lies along the up-hill side, and a terrace 9 ft. wide, probably the remains of a ditch, lies along the downhill side of the mound. From above the mound stands 1 ft. high; from below it is 4 ft. high. (Wessex from the Air, 20.)’

<5> Barrett, G, Various, Field Investigators Comments GB, F1 GB 26-JAN-78 (Unpublished document). SDO17369.

<6> Historic England, Scheduled Monument Notification, 09-Apr-01 (Scheduling record). SDO17468.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 210148 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 12 2024 1:49PM