Monument record MDO7428 - Bowl barrow, one of the Ailwood Down Group, Corfe Castle

Bowl barrow (202), one of ten that form an irregular W.N.W – E.S.E line only 250 yards long on the summit. Diameter 48 ft, height 7.5 ft. Ditch broken by four causeways, two diametrically opposed on North and South.

National Record of the Historic Environment, 456762 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 443 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘Seventeen bowl barrows and a long barrow on summit and South shoulder of part of Purbeck Hills, here over 600 ft above O.D. Ten form an irregular W.N.W – E.S.E line only 250 yards long on the summit while the rest including the long barrow, lie on slightly lower ground immediately to the South. Only the two highest barrows have continuous ditches. Some others have quarry pits, probably original. All are under turf. One, unidentified, but adjacent contained a cremation.’

<2> Papworth, M D J, Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1983, Isle of Purbeck Survey, IOP 10 (Index). SDO147.

‘Ditched bowl barrow. Mound diam 14.6m and height 2.3m. Ditch 3.0m wide , 0.3m deep and diam. 20.6 m. Situated on heatland, top grass covered and the perimeter gorse covered. E-W sheep track erodes the top of the mound. Ditch clear and interupted. Small hollow in the top of the mound. OS SY98SE5 Visible on RAF/VAP/1821:2403. 1/2/B.’

<3> Papworth, M, 1994, Eastington, Acton, Westwood, Wilkswood, New Barn, Corfe Castle Estate, Wessex Region, 41 (Unpublished document). SWX1388.

A ditched bowl barrow, part of a group of seventeen round barrows and a long barrow. It is visible as a prominent rise 15m dia. And 2.3m high. It has a ditch 2.5m wide and 0.3m deep which is interrupted by four causeways. There is a slight hollow on top of the mound which may be the result of an antiquarian excavation. A cremation burial comes from one of the barrows in this group (Miles 1826). Woodward’s map (1775) shows nine barrows here. This site lies on the crest of the chalk ridge and is second most westerly of the group. 112,150 lies immediately to the west. 112,152 lies immediately to the south and 112,153 lies immediately to east. 115,151 is distinctive because of its causewayed ditch. This land has been downland since 1585 (Treswell) and appears never to have been ploughed.

Record last edited

Oct 25 2024 4:04PM