Monument record MDO8380 - Undated mounds, Worth Matravers

Two mounds of unknown date and function. Field investigation in 1952 indicated that the northmost mound may be a barrow and the southern mound, a clearance ciarn. The two mounds are visible as earthworks on lidar.

Surveyed at SY 979776494 and SY 97927700 are two mounds lettered `A and `B respectively. `A is badly shaped and is spread out towards the East but has a general diameter of 12.5m. and a height of 0.5m. with no surrounding ditch. It is composed almost entirely of stones though with sufficient earth to permit the growth of brambles which cover the top of the mound. Some of the mound has been removed in the southern quadrant. There are no quarry workings in the immediate vicinity and no trace of pits and whereas the mound may have been occasioned by stone clearing in the field it may be a cairn. `B is a turf covered circular mound with a diameter of 11.5m. and a height of 0.5m. It has no surrounding ditch and bears no visible trace of mutilation. Many small stones lie on and around this mound which may be a bowl barrow or cairn. <1>

Two mounds on top of a broad ridge between Winspit and Seacombe Bottoms is an area formerly covered by strip fields (see SY 97 NE 14). (37). SY 9790704. Turf-covered mound, 36ft diameter and 1 1/2ft high (This probably accords with `B' of Authority 1). SY 97977698. Mound, overgrown, 45ft diameter and 2 1/2ft high showing many stones and perhaps indicating origins as spoil from field clearance. This probably accords with `A' of Authority 1). <2>

The two mounds are visible as earthworks on lidar <3-4> and were digitally plotted during the South West Rapid Coastla Zone Assessment Survey (Dorset).

<1> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F1 JR 28-AUG-52 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘MOUNDS, two (SY 97 NE), on top of broad ridge between Winspit and Seacombe Bottoms in an area formerly covered by strip fields (see Worth Matravers (29), p. 415). (37) (97907704). Diam. 36 ft., ht. 1½ ft. Turf-covered.’

<3> Channel Coastal Observatory, 23-MAR-2008, Lidar (Photograph). SDO12878.

<4> Channel Coastal Observatory, 25-FEB-2009, Lidar (Aerial Photograph). SDO12879.

<5> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Records, SY 97 NE 15B (Index). SDO131.

Record last edited

Apr 17 2023 7:31AM