Monument record MDO6784 - Bell barrow, one of the Barrow Hill Group, Poole

Bell barrow that survives as an earthwork about 24m in diameter and two metres high, with traces a damaged irregular ditch about 3.5m wide. It may be one of the barrows excavated by J H Austen in 1847 containing a primary urned cremation and at least five intrusive inhumations burials. The feature is clearly visible on aerial photographs and on current Lidar imagery. The features was digitally plotted from these sources by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

One of a group of round barrows on Barrow Hill. Barrow 'E' - SY 99599767. Bowl barrow, 18 paces diameter and 6 feet high with hollow centre and surrounding ditch. One of the barrows 'E' or barrow 'F' was opened by J H Austen in 1847 and found to contain an urned primary cremation in the centre, and at least five intrusive inhumations. <2>

Barrow 'E' - Probable bell barrow, with slight berm on the west side. The mound is 16 metres in diameter and 2 metres high with a surrounding ditch 3.5 metres wide and 0.3 metre deep. Heavily overgrown with gorse and bracken. <3>

Barrow 'E' - (400) - SY 99599767. Bell barrow, about 50 feet in diameter and 7 1/2 feet high with traces of a berm on the south east and damaged, irregular ditch about 9 feet wide. Excavation information is the same as Authy 2. <4>

Barrow 'E'. SY 99589766. Barrow, height 2 metres, diameter 24 metres, overall including a ditch 3.5 metres wide and 0.2 metres deep, on the west side, but visible as a cropmark elsewhere. The barrow is under gorse and bramble and has been mutilated sufficiently for it to be now impossible to determine whether it is a bowl or bell barrow. Re-surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. <6>

SY 99599767; Poole 4, a bowl barrow 18 paces in diameter and 6 feet high. <7>

A bell barrow on Barrow Hill , part of a barrow cemetery of four bell barrows and two bowl barrows situated 150 metres to the southwest of Brookvale Farm. The barrow is one of two barrows situated to the northwest of the southern group of four barrows, and survives as an earthwork. <8>

No dating evidence was found with the intrusive inhumations, however, given their location an early Medieval date is a possibility. <9>

The feature is clearly visible on aerial photographs and on current Lidar imagery <10-11>. The central mound is approximately 17.3m in diameter, the outer ditch 1.9m wide. The features was digitally plotted from these sources by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1902 (Map). SWX1540.

(Centred SY 996975) Tumuli (NR) (twice)

<2> Grinsell, L V, 1935-54, Dorset Barrows 1935-54 Manuscript (Unpublished document). SWX1556.

<3> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 17-NOV-1955 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 449 (Monograph). SDO150.

'BARROW HILL GROUP (SY 99 SE). Six barrows, including four bells, on flat-topped ridge above 200 ft. contour. (396-9) form a short S.W.-N.E. alignment. All but (399) have probably been excavated. Three barrows on 'Merley Heath' were excavated by Austen in 1847: two of (396-8) contained unaccompanied cremations beneath a layer of flints; and either (400) or (401) contained a primary cremation in an upright Middle or Late Bronze Age urn, and at least five intrusive inhumations on top of mound.
(400) Bell (99599767).160 yds. N.W. of (399). Diam. about 50 ft., ht. 7.5 ft., with traces of a berm on S.E. and damaged, irregular ditch about 9 ft. wide.'

<5> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<6> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F2 JGB 24-NOV-1980 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<7> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 125 (Monograph). SDO132.

<8> Historic England, Scheduled Monument Notification, 24-Jul-98 (Scheduling record). SDO17468.

<9> Cherryson, A K, 2006, Gazetteer of Early Medieval Sites (Unpublished document). SDO17464.

<10> Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 RP 3198-9 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16170.

<11> Environment Agency, xxx-xxx-2015, Geomatics Lidar DSM 50cm (Aerial Photograph). SDO16012.

<12> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1457309 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 7 2022 12:38PM