Monument record MDO5889 - Mound south of The Vine, Little Pamphill, Pamphill

A mound interpreted as a probable round barrow. In 1975 this mound was reported as being about 2 feet high and around 44 feet in diameter. Another possible interpretation is that it may be the remains of a motte and bailey castle, damaged by quarrying. The feature is visible on aerial photogrpahs and current Lidar imagery as an irregular elongated mound up to 24m in length and up to 13.5m wide. On the southwest side of the mound, and corresponding with a slight outward bulge, there appears to be an additional small sub-circular mound approximately 10.4m in diameter and with a slightly lower centre. Near central within this smaller mound is a small hollow that may be a tree bole. To te southeast of the central mound is a further curving section of linear bank approximately 8m long, possibly part of the wider feature but perhaps marking a later path or trackway. The feature was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

Possible barrow at Little Pamphill, about 44ft diameter by 2ft high. <2>

Flat-topped mound 13.5m diameter by 1.0m high. <3>

The feature is visible on 1940's aerial photographs and current Lidar imagery <5-6>.

The feature comprises an irregular elongated mound up to 24m in length and up to 13.5m wide. On the southwest side of the mound, and corresponding with a slight outward bulge, there appears to be an additional small sub-circular mound approximately 10.4m in diameter and with a slightly lower centre. Near central within this smaller mound is a small hollow that may be a tree bole. To te southeast of the central mound is a further curving section of linear bank approximately 8m long, possibly part of the wider feature but perhaps marking a later path or trackway.

The feature may be a Bronze Age barrow but the juxtaposition of the two mounds and complexity of likely contemporary features may support the more likely interpretation of a medieval motte and bailey castle or other defensive site.

The feature was digitally plotted from aerial photographs and current Lidar imagery by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1929 (Map). SWX1540.

(ST 99490025) Tumulus (NR)

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 53 (Monograph). SDO129.

'(91) Barrow? (99500026), in Little Pamphill, lies near the top of a low spur on the Reading Beds; diam. About 44 ft., ht. 2 ft.'

<3> Wrathall, Reginald, Field investigator's comments RW, F1 RW 15-MAR-54 (Unpublished document). SDO18449.

<4> Papworth, M, 1997, Pamphill Parish, Kingston Lacy Estate, Wessex Region, 69 (Unpublished document). SDO13960.

‘Mound 150m south of ‘The Vine’ Little Pamphill … A flat topped mound 11.5m dia. 0.5m high on the north and 1.2m high on the south. Grinsell (1959) records that a large tree once grew from the mound centre and a hollow on top indicates the position of this. The site lies on the east end of a spur above the river Stour and the recent clearance of scrub from the site has revealed fine views along the Stour valley. This and the presence of traces of platforms and banks in the vicinity has led to the suggestion that the site may not be a Bronze Age burial mound but once had a defensive function. There is a possibility that this could be the site of a motte and bailey castle which has been damaged by quarries 112,325 and the cottages built on the south side of the site. The mound is shown on Woodward’s map (1774) at the north edge of a small plantation.’

<5> Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 4153-4 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16299.

<6> Environment Agency, XX-XXX-2015, Environment Agency DTM Lidar 50cm (Aerial Photograph). SDO15306.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 209502 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 12:31PM