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Details of barrows on Pastscape

A diffuse group of 8 bowl barrows scattered across Week Street Down, north of the terminal of the Dorset Cursus (Linear 41). The individual barrows are all recorded separately (see ST 91 SE 166-173). They can probably be identified with seven barrows opened by Charles Warne on 8th September 1848. However, Warne left insufficient detail to allow correlation between his excavation records and particular barrows (and note also the more recent recognition of 3 further ring ditches nearby – ST 91 SE 118, 119 and 174 among other – which could just as plausibly be identified with Warne’s barrows). Details of Warne’s excavations are as follows: Warne’s tumulus 15 (Grinsell’s Gussage St Michael 7a) – 6 feet high, composed of chalk and flints with some earth. Off centre, on the south, was a pit containing burnt bones and,a t its base, a skeleton with two flint knives. 16 (7b) – 6 feet high, chalk and flint mound. 2 feet from the surface were two skeletons and a flint arrowhead. 17 (7c) – a low, flat mound with an adult crouched inhumation just below the surface. 18 (7d) – 5 feet high, again earth and flints. In the centre of the mound was an upright pottery vessel. Nearby to the northwest was a pit cut into the natural chalk containing potsherds and calcined bones, surrounded by charcoal and “black mould”. 19 (7e) – Chalk and earth mound again, but no height given. After removing the mound, he found 6 pits cut into the chalk, two of them containing some potsherds, the rest “disclosed deposits of burnt bones and ashes”. 20 (7f) – previously explored by one of Warne’s labourers, who had found a large pottery vessel which was destroyed in attempts to remove it. There is a reference to its “contents” but these are not described – presumably a cremation? The labourer had also found a pit containing calcined bones and potsherds. 21 (7g) – flint and earth again, and once more no height given. According to Warne, it was “found to be quite unproductive”.

Details of henge on Pastscape

Neolithic hengiform monument on Wyke Down. It had appeared as a cropmark ring ditch on air photographs, but excavation in 1982-3 revelaed a sub-circular arrangement of closely-spaced pits, with an entrance to the south. There was no evidence that the pits held any posts; finds from this primary phase included flint tools, carved chalk objects and animal remains. A second phase of use was represented by a shallow recut in the upper fill of each pit, and this was associated with the use of Grooved Ware pottery, as well as flints, animal remains and some human remains. A third and final phase is represented by a shallow pit at the centre of the enclosed area. Beaker and Collared Urn sherds were also found during the excavations. The entrance appears to face in the direction of the area of later Neolithic activity overlying the Dorset Cursus (Linear 41) to the south (see SU 01 SW 143). The monument also lies a short distance to the southwest of the Wyke Down barrow group (SU 01 NW 35), itself part of a more dispersed concentration of round barrows and ring ditches in this area on either side of the cursus.

A fairly well-preserved early Neolithic long barrow on Hambledon Hill. Both long barrows (see also ST 81 SW 18) on Hambledon Hill appear to have been known by the same name by the later 19th century. The earthworks on Hambledon Hill were surveyed by RCHME in 1996. See the parent record (ST 81 SW 17) and the archive report for full details. This, the more northerly of the two long barrows, is located on a narrow spine of land which forms the central portion of the hillfort spur. Orientated south-south-east to north-north-west, the barrow measures 66 metres in length and is slightly trapezoid, diminishing in width from 16 metres to 13 metres, and in heigh from 2.5 metres to 1.8 metres from south to north; this implies that the front end faced south. Straight flanking ditches can be traced on each side of the barrow as minimal depressions or level terraces. A number of slight interruptions in the course of the western ditch may indicate that they were discontinuous or causewayed. A V-shaped trench cut through the middle of the barrow from west to east almost certainly represents antiqyarian excavation. It was commented on by Charles Warne (1872) though he does not mention any finds and it is uncertain if he knew when the excavation occurred. Other smaller holes dug into the barrow may also be excavations.

Details of Long Barrow on Pastscape

An early but fairly short Neolithic long barrow on Hambledon Hill, totally excavated in 1977 and now reconstructed as an earthwork. Both long barrows (see also ST 81 SW 11) on Hambledon Hill appear to have been known by the same name by the later 19th century. This, the more southerly of the two long barrows, is situated between the main causewayed enclosure (ST 81 SW 17) and the southern cross-dyke (ST 81 SW 63), and may pre-date the initial construction of both of these earthworks. Survey by RCHME in 1959 showed the barrow to be circa 26 metres long by 13 metres wide, diminishing in height from circa 1 metre at the northern end. Its slightly trapezoid shape, together with an opening at the northern end in the surrounding ditch (revealed by later excavation) suggest that it faced north, towards the main causewayed enclosure. The mound was almost completely destroyed prior to ploughing, and was consequently totally excavated by Roger Mercer in 1977. It has since been reconstructed as a simple oval mound, 27 metres long by 10 metres wide and up to 1.3 metres high. Excavation showed the flanking ditches to have been dug as a series of interlinked pits which curved inwards at both ends of the barrow and linked up at the southern end. The ditches had experienced a similar sequence of use and re-use to those of the main causewayed enclosure. Large quantities of Neolithic bowl pottery were recovered from the primary ditch silts. A few fragments of human bone were recovered from the bulldozed material which had formed the mound. The earthworks on Hambledon Hill were surveyed in 1996 by RCHME. See the parent record (ST 81 SW 17) and the archive report for full details.

Details of Long Barrow on Pastscape

A Neolithic long barrow on Thickthorn Down, located on the crest of the ridge between the Gussage and Crichel valleys. Listed by RCHME as Gussage St Michael 11 nad by Grinsell as Gussage St Michael I. Aligned roughly southeast-northwest, it lies immediately southeast of the Dorset Cursus (Linear 41) and is clearly associated with it. When surveyed by RCHME prior to 1975, it survived as a well-preserved mound 145 feet long, 60 feet across and 8 feet high, surrounded by a ditch 25 feet wide which surrounds three sides of the mound, being open to the southeast. The barrow shares the same alignment, but is not directly aligned upon, the terminal of the cursus. Barrett et al (1991) point out that the cursus here “is unusual in lacking the squared-off end normal on this type of monument. Instead the end bank of the Cursus runs at an oblique angle to the sides, and since this is not demanded by the topography it may be a deliberate design feature, intended to link the southern end of the Cursus to the axis of an existing monument”. They also argue that the disproportionatel large terminal bank may have been deliberate intended to imitate the general appearance of this long barrow and another a short distance to the south (ST 91 SE 23), although the curious misalignment of all three features remains unexplained. There is no record of any excavation. A Neolithic flint axe has however been found on the surface of a disturbed area on the barrow’s western flank.

(ST 97031238) Long Barrow (NR). (1) A long barrow situated on Thickthorn Down on the crest of the ridge between the Gussage and Crichel valleys. Aligned SE to NW, it lies a few yards SE of the Cursus (SU 01 NW 91) and is clearly associated with it. The well-preserved mound is 145ft long, 60ft across and 8ft high. It stands within a ditch 25ft across and up to 3ft deep, which is U-shaped in plan and open to the SE. (2)
A roughly finished later Neolithic flint axe or adze was found on the surface of a disturbed area on the west flank of the barrow. It may have come from a secondary deposit in the barrow. (3)

Details of Barrow on Pastscape

Bowl barrow on The Cliff 775m north north west of Smiths Cottages. One of a group of three dispersed barrows on the edge of a steep sided ridge. The barrow is 20m in diameter and 0.3m high. It is surounded by a buried ditch c.0.3m wide.

Three barrows are found on The Cliff, in the E. of the parish, about 300 ft. above O.D.; they lie on the crest of a steep N.W. slope overlooking the Tarrant valley. All three have been much reduced by ploughing.
(11) Bowl (94900717); diam. formerly 60 ft., ht. 2 ft.
(12) Bowl (95140730), 300 yds. N.E. of (11); diam. formerly 68 ft., ht. 2½ ft.
(13) Bowl (95270745), 220 yds. N.E. of (12); diam. formerly 55 ft., ht. 2 ft.

british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol4/pp110-112#h3-0005

Details of Barrows on Pastscape

A group of bowl barrows on Little and Rawston Down. Of these Down Wood Barrow was opened by Cunnington in 1881 when three primary contracted inhumations and three secondary cremations were identified.
(ST 91590669, ST 91560664, ST 91580658) Tumuli (NR). (1)
‘A’ ST 91590669. A bowl barrow, which has been much reduced by ploughing, with a hole dug in the centre. It was formerly 40 ft in diameter and 2 ft high.
‘B’ ST 91560664. A bowl barrow, 28 ft in diameter and 2 ft high, with a hole dug in the centre.
‘C’ ST 91580658. A bowl barrow that was about 45 ft in diameter but which is now ploughed put.
One of these barrows is the ‘Down Wood Barrow’, opened by Cunnington in 1881 to yield primary contracted inhumations and three secondary cremations. (2)

Of four barrows found on Rawston Down in the W. of the parish, either (7) or (8) was excavated by Cunnington, yielding three crouched inhumations in one grave, apparently primary, and three secondary inhumations (Dorset Procs., XXXVII (1916), 46; Cunnington MS., No. 42). An unidentified barrow, excavated ‘on Keynston Down’ in 1840, may have been in Rawston (see Tarrant Keyneston, pp. 104–5).
(7) Bowl (91590669), about 20 yds. N.E. of (6), has been much reduced by ploughing; former diam. 40 ft., ht. 2 ft.; hole dug in centre.
(8) Bowl (91560664), immediately S. of (6); diam. 28 ft., ht. 2 ft.; hole dug in centre.
(9) Bowl (92030634), on Rawston Down, 325 ft. above O.D., lies on the E. crest of a Chalk ridge extending N.W.-S.E.; diam. 74 ft., ht. 7 ft.; surrounding ditch 15 ft. wide and 1½ ft. deep.
(10) Bowl (91920612), 270 yds. S.W. of the foregoing and similarly situated; diam. 36 ft., ht. 2 ft.

british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol4/pp110-112#h3-0005

Details of Settlement on Pastscape

A multi period site with remains of a possible Bronze Age cemetery, Iron Age and Romano British settlement and a Roman Villa.
The Bronze Age remains are of Beaker burials and pits dating to the late 3rd or early 2nd millennium. A large settlement began in the Early or Middle Iron Age (6th-5th century BC) and continued into the Romano-British period (mid 1st century AD). A Romanised settlement including a bath house and various other buildings dates to the 2nd and 3rd centuries. This may have been replaced or converted into a 4th century AD courtyard Roman Villa. The last datable evidence is a coin from the House of Theodosius which provides a post 388 date to the villa and occupation may have continued until the end of the 4th century.
Five Beaker burials have been excavated which may have been marked by a mound. Evidence of Iron Age occupation has been recorded all over the site and includes an extensive settlement of round houses, pits and ditches and two middle Iron Age burials. The site is similar to the large Durotrigian Iron Age settlements of Cranborne Chase. There is little evidence to explain the transformation of the late Iron Age site into a Roman settlement in the 2nd century AD. However, it seems likely from the remains found that the Iron Age site continued and a slow metamorphosis into a Romanised settlement occurred in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. This is indicated by the presence of various Roman structures and a bath house. In the 4th century a courtyard villa was constructed with three ranges of residential and working areas. Remains of rich wall paintings, mosaics and other decorative elements have been found. The final phase of the courtyard building dates to the mid 4th century and the site may have been occupied until the end of the Roman period.
The site was first excavated in 1845 and extensively excavated between 1968 and 1984 by the Wimborne Archaeological Group. Many of the finds are on display in the Priest’s House Museum, Wimborne.

(17) Roman Settlement (926119), including a villa, lies N.W. of Barton Hill Dairy on a site overlooking the Tarrant, on the S. and E. slopes of a Chalk spur between 300 ft. and 360 ft. above sea-level. Excavations in 1845 revealed ‘extensive remains of foundations, and walls with stucco and coloured facings, extending over an area of nearly twenty acres’. On the N. side of the field, ‘at some distance from the spot where the principal remains of foundations were discovered’, two rooms about 5½ ft. square flanked a narrow corridor; their floors were variously described as paved with red and white tesserae arranged in parallel rows, or as stuccoed. The walls, of flint and greensand 3 ft. thick, were plastered internally and were painted with ‘ribbon-work, arches, foliage etc.’ . A well 30 ft. deep contained the base and part of the shaft of a large column ‘of a classic character and resembling the Ionic’. Finds included flue and roofing tiles, tesserae, samian and coarse pottery, amphorae, circular pipes (presumably of earthenware), querns, bronze brooches, shale rings, and coins of Constantine and Constantius. Some of these finds, and also fragments of mosaic with guilloche, angular and curved patterns in red, white and two shades of grey, are in D.C.M.; other finds are in the B.M. It has been suggested that the site is Anicetis of the Ravenna Cosmography (J.B.A.A., 3rd ser. XVII (1954), 77–8).

The two primary accounts of the excavations of 1845, both by W. Shipp, differ in detail (Hutchins I, 318–19; Brit. Archaeol. Ass. (Winchester Congress, 1846), 179–82). Two Durotrigian silver coins in the Pitt-Rivers collection, described as from Tarrant Gunville, may come from this site (S. Frere, ed., Problems of the Iron Age in Southern Britain (1960), 240).

Limited test excavations in 1968 and 1969 tended to confirm the 19th-century accounts, yielding evidence of flint walls, generally 2 ft. thick, over a wide area. Two plain tesselated pavements, severely damaged by ploughing, and much decorated wall plaster also came to light. Nearly 50 coins were found, ranging from Lucius Verus to Valentinian, but chiefly of the 3rd and 4th centuries.

british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol4/pp96-101#h3-0004

Details of Barrows on Pastscape

A bowl barrow on Thickthorn Down, one of a small group of four or five visible as cropmarks on air photographs. There is some difficulty in concording the various records of this barrow group, primarily due to each source offering slightly different grid references. This barrow, RCHME’s Tarrant Hinton 51, is located at ST 96131286. It appears to equate with the Ordnance Survey’s barrow “C” in the group, as recorded by OGS Crawford, although they located it at ST 96141288. Grinsell listed it as Tarrant Hinton 27. RCHME described it as being circa 55 feet in diameter. It is located immediately south of the linear feature ST 91 SE 1, a short distance south west of the other barrows in the group. RCHME noted that another barrow appears to adjoin it on the north east. See ST 91 SE 186. Note that the other barrows in the group, previously described here, have now been recorded separately. See associated monument records for further details.

CE (’A’ ST 96151301; ‘B’ ST 96181304; ‘C’ ST 96141288; ‘D’ ST 96171293) Four round barrows observed by T D Reade, July 1933. (1)
Three round barrows on Thickthorn Down, levelled by ploughing, are visible as soil marks on air photographs (a) Details as
follows:-
No 51. Barrow at ST 96131286, immediately S of Dyke (ST 91 SE 1), diameter about 55ft. (Probably Crawford’s ‘C’).
No 52. Barrow at ST 96131299, diameter about 48ft (Crawford’s ‘A’). No 53. Barrow at ST 96151300, immediately adjacent to
No 52, diameter about 40ft (Crawford’s ‘B’). (2)
ST 96151299. Ring ditch, diameter 8 m., visible on air photographs. Makes a group with [No.s 51-53 listed above]. (3-4)

Three barrows lie at about 240 ft. above O.D. on the S.E. slope of the Chalk ridge of Thickthorn Down. Now levelled by ploughing, they are visible as soil-marks on air photographs (C.U.A.P., ANC 26, 28).
(51) Barrow (96131286), immediately S. of Dyke (22); diameter about 55 ft. A second, smaller barrow appears to adjoin it on the N.E.
(52) Barrow (96131299); diam. about 48 ft.
(53) Barrow (96151300), immediately adjacent to (52); diam. about 40 ft. Undated

british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol4/pp96-101#h3-0004

Details of Barrows on Pastscape

(Centred ST 917113) Tumuli (NR). (1)
Four barrows lie between 360 ft. and 380 ft. above O.D., on the S.E. slopes of a Chalk ridge at the S. end of Hinton Bushes; (A-C) are in woodland, (D) has been levelled by cultivation.
(A) Bowl (91651135); diam. 30 ft., ht. 3 ft.
(B) Bowl (91681132); diam. 60 ft., ht. 3 1/2 ft., with a well-marked
ditch 10 ft. across, and an outer bank best preserved on the W. side.
(C) Bowl (91791129), damaged in the centre; diam. 55 ft., ht. 3 ft.
(D) Bowl (91811130); former diam. 45 ft., ht. 3 ft. (2)

Four barrows (36–39) lie between 360 ft. and 380 ft. above O.D., on the S.E. slopes of a Chalk ridge at the S. end of Hinton Bushes; (36–38) are in woodland, (39) has been levelled by cultivation.
(36) Bowl (91651135); diam. 30 ft., ht. 3 ft.
(37) Bowl (91681132); diam. 60 ft., ht. 3½ ft., with a well-marked ditch 10 ft. across, and an outer bank best preserved on the W. side.
(38) Bowl (91791129), damaged in the centre; diam. 55 ft., ht. 3 ft.
(39) Bowl (91811130); former diam. 45 ft., ht. 3 ft.

british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol4/pp96-101#h3-0004