Scheduled Monument: Barrow cemetery on Hardown Hill 600m west of Butt Farm (SM29580)

EXTRACT FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE'S RECORD OF SCHEDULED MONUMENTS MONUMENT: Barrow cemetery on Hardown Hill 600m west of Butt Farm PARISH: WHITECHURCH CANONICORUM DISTRICT: WEST DORSET COUNTY: DORSET NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 29580 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SY40549448 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument includes a bowl barrow cemetery of five bowl barrows on Hardown Hill 600m west of Butt Farm. Four barrows lie on the edge of the hill in a curved line aligned north-south. These barrows vary in diameter between 9m and 13m and between 0.6m and 1m in height. Surrounding each mound is a quarry ditch from which material was excavated during their construction. These have become infilled over the years but survive as buried features approximately 2m wide. The fifth barrow has a mound, 8m in diameter and 0.4m high, with a large flat-bottomed hollow in the middle, surrounded by two concentric banks. The inner bank, at a distance of 3.5m from the edge of the mound, is a vague feature 1m wide and 0.1m high with an outer ditch 1m wide and 0.1m deep. A gap of about 2m separates the banks. The outer bank, 2m wide and about 0.3m high, links four horseshoe-shaped earthworks symetrically placed around the circle with the open sides facing towards the central mound. These earthworks, an average of 10m wide and 0.5m high, all have depressions up to 0.5m deep in their bases. The ditch external to the outer bank is vague and intermittent and curves around the outer edges of these features. It is thought that the central mound is most likely a Bronze Age burial mound which has been later incorporated into a more elaborate earthwork feature. In 1916 one of these barrows was excavated by Dr Wynyatt Wingrave, who found it to contain pagan Saxon burials with grave goods including spearheads, a knife, a shield boss, and a bronze brooch dating to the mid-fifth to the midsixth century. The exact provenance of the finds is uncertain but the mound within the concentric banks seems the most likely location because of the size of the depression cut into it. The objects found suggest a minimum of five graves which are thought to be secondary burials inserted into the Bronze Age barrow. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them, contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are considered worthy of protection. The round barrow cemetery on Hardown Hill 600m west of Butt Farm is a well preserved example of its class and will contain archaeological remains providing information relating to Bronze Age and later burial practices, economy and environment. Part excavation of one of the barrows in 1916 identified secondary burials of early Saxon date indicating continuity of use. Finds of this date are rare within Dorset. SCHEDULING HISTORY Monument included in the Schedule on 3rd July 1959 as: COUNTY/NUMBER: Dorset 373 NAME: Eight Round Barrows on Hardown Hill The reference of this monument is now: NATIONAL MONUMENT NUMBER: 29580 NAME: Barrow cemetery on Hardown Hill 600m west of Butt Farm SCHEDULING REVISED ON 22nd December 1997

Record last edited

Dec 21 2024 8:07AM