Monument record MDO7411 - Bronze Age bowl barrow, Corfe Castle

A probable bowl barrow situated on the crest of a ridge overlooking Smedmore Hill to the south west and Corfe Valley to the north. The barrow was first recorded by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England in 1970. It has a mound composed of limestone rubble and turf with maximum dimensions of approximately 20 metres in diameter and about 0.8 metres in height. The mound is surrounded by a quarry ditch which has become infilled over the years but will survive as a buried feature about 2 metres wide. Romano-British sherds have been found in the same field - see MDO46076.

A small area of dark earth with a few Romano-British sherds (MDO46076) and fragments of limestone was discovered at approximately SY 94788058. On the highest part of the same field, about 150 yards to the west (SY 94648059) is a mound still 1-2ft high despite recent levelling, which consists of a roughly circular area, some 12 to 15 yards across of limestone chips and yellow sandy clay ringed by a mass of burnt earth, limestone and sandstone. There is some larger stone debris, but no sherds were recovered. <2>

SY 94588061. Mound, possible barrow, about 52ft diameter and 4ft high situated under turf in an arable field on the summit of an east-west ridge. The north side is cut into and the centre almost dug away.

(Possibly this is the mound seen by Brown - Authy <2>). <3>

SY 94588061. Corfe Castle 26. Possible barrow listed, with reference to Authy <3> <4>

SY 94578060. This earthen mound, possibly a disturbed round barrow now measures 30.0m E-W by 21.0m N-S and stands up to 0.8m high; it lies along the edge of the crest of the ridge. It has been spread by regular ploughing and the mutilations noted by authority <3> have been smoothed out; a number of small limestone slabs are scattered about the surface. There is no trace of a ditch.

The OS 1:2500 plan dated 1959 depicts a mutilated mound approximately 20.0m by 18.0m at this map reference but it is not named.

Published 1:2500 survey revised.

It seems reasonable to suggest that Brown <2> was describing the same mound, which as he notes is on the highest part of the field, even though both his grid reference and general description differ.

The field which includes the find spot at SY 94788058 is under luxuriant mowing grass. <6>

Additional information from English Heritage Schedule Entry. <7>

A low earthwork mound, 19m across is visible on aerial photographs to the south of East Orchard <1>. The feature is possibly the site of a Bronze Age round barrow, it was digitally plotted during the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project.

<1> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1824 4228-9 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13492.

<2> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1966, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1965, 98, PA Brown (Serial). SDO65.

‘The second, on the highest part of the same field, about 150yds. to the west (94648059), is a mound still 1ft. or 2ft. high despite recent levelling. It consists of a roughly circular area, some 12 to 15yds. across, of limestone chips and yellow sandy clay ringed by a mass of burnt earth, burnt limestone and sandstone. There is some larger stone debris, but no sherds were recovered.’

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 443, No 185 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘(185) Mound, possible barrow (SY 98 SW; 94588061). On summit of E.-W. ridge just over 150 ft. above O.D. Diam. about 52 ft., ht. 4 ft. Under turf in arable field. N. side cut into and centre almost dug away.’

<4> Grinsell, L V, 1982, Dorset Barrows Supplement, 37 (Monograph). SWX1703.

<5> Papworth, M D J, Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1983, Isle of Purbeck Survey, IOP 31 (Index). SDO147.

‘Probable bowl barrow. Diam. 16.0m and Ht. 1.2m. Site lies on land occasionally ploughed and in ley pasture. OS SY98SW70. 7/7/D.’

<6> Fletcher, Martin, Field investigator's comments MJF, F1 MJF 29-APR-86 (Unpublished document). SDO17630.

<7> DCMS, 2000, Scheduled Monument Notification 2000, 11-Feb-2000 (Scheduling record). SWX2721.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 457107 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 21 2024 7:35AM