West Godlingston Heath

Nearest town:
Swanage (6km SE)
OS reference:
SZ006830
OS sheet:
195
Latitude:
50° 38' 45.85 N
Longitude:
1° 59' 29.45 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of West Godlingston Heath (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by formicaant

The barrows are in the centre of the photo from a viewpoint to the south – in the background is Green Island which is an iron age site.

Image credit: Mike Rowland 10/04/11
formicaant
formicaant Apr 10, 2011
Image of West Godlingston Heath (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by formicaant

A piece of prehistoric pottery found 20 yards from the barrows.

Image credit: Mike Rowland 04/04/10
formicaant
formicaant Apr 6, 2010
Image of West Godlingston Heath (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by formicaant

The third barrow, with the Purbeck Hills in the background to the south.

Image credit: Mike Rowland 04/04/10
formicaant
formicaant Apr 6, 2010
Image of West Godlingston Heath (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by formicaant

The largest and most easterly of the bowl barrows.

Image credit: Mike Rowland 04/04/10
formicaant
formicaant Apr 4, 2010
Image of West Godlingston Heath (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by formicaant

Five bowl barrows in an arc on the western edge of Godlingston Heath.

Image credit: Mike Rowland 04/04/10
formicaant
formicaant Apr 4, 2010

Articles

West Godlingston Heath

formicaant
formicaant Apr 4, 2010

A barrow cemetery comprising five bowl and one bell barrow on the west of Godlingston Heath. This is a curious cemetery, the like of which I’ve not seen before locally, it is in the shape of a crescent. The arc is roughly a 1/4 of a circle and looks like a small arena. The barrows overlook the north part of the heath and Poole harbour from the top of an inland cliff. The five bowl barrows make up the arc shape with the bell barrow just behind, almost touching them.
The barrows are covered in low heather at the moment and get larger and higher as they go from the first barrow – north west to the sixth barrow south east. The only barrow that is visible from the south is the bell barrow, from which can be see two of the barrows on Nine Barrow Down, to the south, I’m pretty sure the long barrow is one of them.
These barrows are not on the main part of the heath with the marked footpaths but the whole area is open access land and there was a path that could be followed. These are not marked in any way on the relevant O.S. maps and I only found out they existed while looking at something else on MAGIC, where they are marked and described.
On the way back, about 20 yards from the barrows I was lucky enough to find a piece of Bronze Age pottery laying next to the track. It looks like the local black burnished ware and is part of a rim.
All in all they are an unusual group in the context of Dorset barrows and are well worth a visit – look them up first on MAGIC and they are quite easy to find, if not this is a large heath with lots of lumps and bumps on it which aren’t ancient.

Sites within 20km of West Godlingston Heath

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