Monument record MDO7315 - Bowl barrow, Knowle Hill, Church Knowle

"In May 1861 I examined the remainder of the Barrows upon Bucknowle Hill, situated at about 200 paces east of the one which I opened in a previous year (SY 98 SW 16) and which has been described in the first volume". "There are two large and two smaller with a square earthwork measuring 12 paces in diameter, which would seem to be of later date than the barrows from the fact that its south bank passes across one of them." … The other large barrow situated 25 paces due south from the last (evidently B) was 47 yards in circumference and was surrounded by a ditch". The outside was found to be composed of a hardened wall of earth and chalk. Five feet south of the centre (and apparently
at a depth of 5' - the passage is obscure) was a mass of black earth or charcoal in which was found a whetstone, perforated at its smaller end. Beneath this was a cist which contained a deposit of burnt bones. In the SW section of the barrow were extensive traces of similar black earth.The two low barrows were unimportant". <1>

'B' has a diameter of 14.0m. And a height of 1.6m. And is surrounded by a ditch on all but the south quadrant where it has been obliterated by a modern track. The ditch is 4.0m. Wide and 0.6m. Deep. It is turf-covered and appears to have been a bowl-barrow. The top shows signs of mutilation, probably as a result of the earlier excavation. <3>

SY 94598233. Church Knowle 8. … Two bowl barrows listed, details as Authy 2-5. The bronze dagger from Barrow 'A' is in Dorset County Museum. (The two mounds east of the published barrows are not mentioned by Grinsell). <4>

'B'. Ditched bowl barrow (SY 94588233) 40 yds. S. of 'A' diam 45ft., ht. 4 1/2ft. Opened 1861 by Austen who found a probably primary cremation in a cist below much burnt material containing a perforatedwhetstone now in Dorset County Museum. <5>

SY 945824. Three round barrows on Knowle Hill. Scheduled. <6>

'B' A ditched bowl barrow untouched by the plough with an overall diameter of 24.5m; the mound is up to 1.8m high and has an 0.3m deep central depression. The ditch is up to 0.8m deep but it has been effaced on the south side. <8>

A Bronze Age barrow 15m across is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs to the south east of Norden Wood, Church Knowle <10-11>. The site was digitally plotted during the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project.

<1> 2, 1896, Papers read before the Purbeck Society, 55-58 (Serial). SDO20201.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1929 (Map). SWX1540.

(A:SY 94588236: B: SY 94578233). Tumuli (NR)

<3> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F1 JR 16-JUL-52 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<4> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 101 (Monograph). SDO132.

<5> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 442 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘(42) Ditched bowl (SY 98 SW; 94588233) 40 yds. S. of (41). Diam. 45 ft., ht. 4½ ft. Opened 1861 by Austen who found a probably primary cremation in a cist below much burnt material containing a perforated whetstone now in D.C.M. (Purbeck Papers II, 55–8; Archaeologia XLIII (1871), 424–5, fig. 116).’

<6> Department of the Environment, 1978, Department of the Environment (IAM) Ancient Monuments of England (Vol 2), 62 (Monograph). SWX1687.

<7> Papworth, M D J, Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1983, Isle of Purbeck Survey, IOP 225 (Index). SDO147.

'Situated on grassland occasionally ploughed and used for pasture. This prominent rise is unploughed but is perimeter has been damaged by basal ploughing and there is some animal erosion, particularly on the S. & W. sides. The barrow is covered in grass with gorse and blackberry. Flattened and hollowed on top from past excavation. Basal ploughing has probably accentuated ditch. 1/2/C.'

<8> Fletcher, Martin, Field investigator's comments MJF, F2 MJF 30-APR-86 (Unpublished document). SDO17630.

<9> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<10> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1821 2412-13 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13498.

<11> National Monuments Record, 18-NOV-2005, NMR SY9482/3-4, 6-9 (NMR 24139/42-8) (Aerial Photograph). SDO13503.

<12> National Record of the Historic Environment, 456939 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 22 2024 12:47PM