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Fieldnotes by formicaant

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Showing 1-20 of 255 fieldnotes. Most recent first | Next 20

Burcombe Hill (Hillfort)

There is scant information about this site, there are banks and ditches which enclose around an acre. It is triangular in shape and is described as a defensive enclosure. Dates are estimated to be from the Iron age to the Medieval period.

South Down Sleight (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery)

A scatterred group of barrows, including a group of three north of the military road from Warminster to Imber. The single one is actually on Summer down but this site name is already in use for a different place in Wiltshire so to avoid confusion I have added it here.
The group of 3 are listed as National Monument 10091 and the single as 10089. These were taken from a bus on one of the few days this area is open to the public.

Oxendean Down (Long Barrow)

Apologies for the poor photo but this barrow is not normally accessible for most of the year and stopping to take photos isn't really an option. MAGIC says it's 53m from East to West by 34m from North to South. It is surrounded by wooden posts to keep troops and vehicles off it.

Imber (Round Barrow(s))

This is just south of the road from Warminster to the lost village of Imber. It is either a twin barrow or two contiguous barrows and is part of a group of five following the ridge line. It's national monument number is 10100, and is on the restricted firing range on Salisbury plain.

Owermoigne Down (Round Barrow(s))

Finally got back to revisit these barrow, nearly 4 years later and what a pleasant surprise, the barrows are in much better nick. Full marks to what I assume is the farmer on whose fields these are for clearing all the rubbish and scrub from them. From just across the narrow road which leads to them can be seen the Lord's Barrow on the ridge to the east.

Binissafullet (Taula)

This is very much a damaged and restored site, as the information board says much of it was used to build the road nearby. Looking at the base of the Taula it would appear to have been repaired with cement.
The Talaoit is damaged and fairly insubstantial, but not as knocked about as the houses would appear to be. All in this is well worth a visit for its peacefulness alone, when we went there we saw no-one else.

Tolpuddle Ball (Round Barrow(s))

Two bowl barrows in dense undergrowth on private land to north east of the village of Tolpuddle. They don't appear on MAGIC and don't appear to be scheduled, they are listed as monument no. 456168 on Pastscape and Grinsell visited them and listed them in Dorset Barrows.
I've not seen them as they aren't visible from either the A35 or the lesser road that goes to the village. Grinsell had them as being 37 feet in diameter and 4 feet in height and 54 by 5 1/2 respectively. The smaller one has damage from a military slit slit trench, presumably 2nd WW as this is a very strategic position above what used to be a main road (now bypassed).
Very close to these barrows an Iron age and Romano-British settlement was excavated during the building of the Puddletown/Tolpuddle bypass.

Warren Heath (Round Barrow(s))

A small, low bowl barrow on Warren Heath, which is on the edge of the Higher Hyde nature reserve. Not the best photo but I had my brother with me and he wanted to see nature stuff - lizards and such so I didn't get a chance to walk to it.

Boswell's Plantation (Round Barrow(s))

This is a single round barrow south of the group in Puddletown Forest which in cludes the Rain barrows. It is situated on farmland, north of Boswell's Plantation, just off the heathland which used to stretch all the way to the New Forest. Just off a farm track, it is on private land and can be seen from the road and from the large round barrow south of the Rainbarrows. It appears to be in fair condition and of medium size.
A closer look at the barrow reveals quite serious damage where it appears that the farm track seems to have run over the top of it. The track now appears to skirt the western base of it.

King Down (Round Barrow(s))

These are a nice pair of possible bell barrows and are well protected from farm vehicles with short wooden posts surrounding them. They are both roughly 20 yards across by 6 feet in height and the southern of the pair shows obvious signs of having been excavated. They are sited on a slight rise from which the nearby Bradford Barrow can just be seen in the distance.
Grinsell lists these as Pamphill 1,2,3,4 and 4a - 3,4,and 4a are no longer visible - he couldn't find 4a and 3 and 4 were only a foot in height. These have probably fallen victim to the plough in the 50 or so years since Grinsell saw them.
These are close to Badbury Rings hillfort and there are well marked bridle ways to and from the barrows and the rings.

Bradford Barrow (Round Barrow(s))

This is a very large bowl barrow, it is 41 yards in diameter and 20 feet in height, indeed there are telegraph poles close to it and they are roughly the same height. It sits on a ridge to the north of King Down and from it can be seen a pair of barrows on that down. Grinsell says it had a ditch, but I could not get close enough to see it.
Large as this is it is not easy to photograph as it is surrounded by hedges and small trees.
This is easy to get to and the footpaths are pretty flat. I parked near the entrance to Kingston Lacy house and followed the well marked footpaths.

Hog Cliff Hill (Round Barrow(s))

This is a low bowl barrow adjacent to the A37 Dorchester to Yeovil road. The barrow itself not substantial - Grinsell gives its dimensions as 20 yards in diameter and 2 1/2 feet high, as measured by the RCHM in the 1950's. It does not look to have changed much since then. He also describes it as a Cairn or stone heap, which is reasonably unusual in this part of the world.
The monument is as Rhiannon says on the reverse slope of an escarpment overlooking the small town of Maiden Newton, south in the valley below, the barrow faces north.
Whilst the barrow itself is fairly bog standard and possibly quite uninteresting, the area in which it stands is of national significance. The barrow is on private farmland, but the 80 odd acres surrounding it are within the Hog Cliff Hill National Nature Reserve (NNR). This is an area of proven antiquity as it has been extensively investgated in the past.
Excavated in 1959 by Phillip Rahtz (Ellison and Rahtz 1987) it was shown be late Bronze Age in origin, rather than Iron Age and is an early example of a permanent nucleated settlment. It comprised 3 round houses surrounded by a bank and ditch which enclosed an area of 13+ acres.
Its use carried on into the Iron Age and probably beyond and some of the earthworks of the field boundaries can still be seen in the NNR.
This is a rare survival or rarely looked at type of site and I think the date of the dig is of some significance - these sites don't last long with modern deep ploughing techniques - and the low banks and post holes etc. are soon scoured away.
I have recently seen aerial photos of the neolithic complex at Hambledon hill, the first photo from 1924 shows extant banks ,ditches and pits etc, whilst a later shot from 1968 shows little more than crop marks, a site of early human activity destroyed by agriculture.

Torre d'en Gaumes

I visited this site on 16/09/2010, it was the only site I managed to get to on what was a family holiday after having just moved house. What a site this is, I was unprepared for both its size and complexity. I went at about three in the afternoon and only saw two other people, and as the hut was closed I couldn't pay to get in!
It would appear that since Postman and Jane visited the site, that two of the Taulas have had their capstones restored to them.

Kingston Russell Barrow (Round Barrow(s))

A single round barrow several hundred yards west of Kinston Russell stone circle. It is aligned with the round barrow on Abbotsbury castle which is to the south.

Lyscombe Hill (Dyke)

This is one of a series of 7 cross ridge dykes which straddle the crests of the surrounding hills. It is situated south of the nearby promontory hillfort at Nettlecombe Tout and is west of the Dorsetshire Gap. The pictures were taken from the tiny hamlet of Folly in the valley below.

Windsbatch (Dyke)

A cross ridge dyke on Windsbatch hill, just south of the South Dorset Ridgeway. This ditch and bank can be seen from the Gould's Hill and Ridge Hill barrows which are to the north of it. It can be accessed via the Jubilee trail and is close to the village of Upwey.

Winterbourne Steepleton Cromlech (Dolmen / Quoit / Cromlech)

I have long meant to see if this site is visible. It can be seen from the minor road which runs between Winterbourne Abbas and Portesham, I parked in a small layby on the west side of the road. The verge by the road had just been mowed and I walked along this, although this is a minor road it is very busy. The stones can be seen to the north, behind a water trough. They are quite small and I needed a long lens to get a photo of them.
This site is comparable to West Compton Down or Two Gates, which is several miles to the north near Eggardon Hill.

Long Barrow Lane

As Dickie says this barrow has been very seriously damaged in the past. Happily the current land owner seems to value it, as they have taken the time, effort and expense to fence it off. This is a very peaceful place to be, I had it completely to myself, and saw a young fox playing in the lane which leads to it.
From the barrow, to the south west Bokerley Dyke can be seen clearly, with its barrows and the parts of Grim's Ditch associated with it.
I parked in a small layby a couple of hundred yards into the village and walked up the road into Long Barrow lane, it's a flat walk and I spent about half an hour at the barrow. Worth a visit if you get the chance.

Charlton Down Ditch (Dyke)

This is a surprisingly large structure on the Wiltshire / Dorset border. It's 365metres long with a 40 metre gap where the modern road cuts through it.
This is part of a group of cross ridge dykes which straddle the Dorset / Wiltshire border, thought to be iron age in date their purpose is uncertain. They appear to mark the extent of an area of land, but do not appear to be for defensive use as they are not long enough and only extend across the tops of hills.

Vernditch Chase North (Long Barrow)

At last I've managed to find this elusive long barrow, after about the 5th attempt. It is in dense beech woods north of the other long barrow nearby. This barrow is generally listed as Vernditch Case long barrow, the other is usually listed as "long barrow south west of Vernditch Chase", but what's in a name?
The barrow itself is quite slight and difficult to see, I'm happy that this is it, as it is in the right place. However there are various bits of Grim's Ditch in this area and I have seen photo's that purport to be the barrow which look more like the ditch, i.e. much too long and thin. This is one for completists (like me, I suppose) as it is small and has probably been ploughed in the past.
Showing 1-20 of 255 fieldnotes. Most recent first | Next 20
Always been interested in old stuff and making sure it stays in good nick.
I grew up within a hundred yards or so of Pounbury hillfort and within a mile of Maiden castle and have long wondered about the peoples who built these and the many other sites which proliferate in Dorset. My special interest is in the many barrows of all kinds in the area.
Have recently moved near to Weymouth and am lucky enough to be able to see barrows, a cross ridge dyke and an ancient trackway from my back garden.

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