Scheduled Monument: Six bowl barrows on Blacknoll Hill (1015334)

EXTRACT FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE'S RECORD OF SCHEDULED MONUMENTS MONUMENT: Six bowl barrows on Blacknoll Hill PARISH: WINFRITH NEWBURGH DISTRICT: PURBECK COUNTY: DORSET NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 28398 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SY80638630 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument includes six bowl barrows situated upon a ridge known as Blacknoll Hill, overlooking Knighton Heath to the south, Winfrith Heath to the north and the Frome Valley to the east. The barrows form the core of a wider group of 12 which, together, form a round barrow cemetery on the western part of Winfrith Heath. The barrows each have a mound composed of earth, sand and turf, with maximum dimensions of between 11m-22m in diameter and between c.0.75m-1.5m in height. Each mound is surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. The ditches have become infilled over the years, but each will survive as a buried feature about 2m wide. 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 six bowl barrows on Blacknoll Hill survive comparatively well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. SCHEDULING HISTORY Monument included in the Schedule on 27th February 1957 as: COUNTY/NUMBER: Dorset 254 NAME: Five Round Barrows on Blacknoll Hill The reference of this monument is now: NATIONAL MONUMENT NUMBER: 28398 NAME: Six bowl barrows on Blacknoll Hill SCHEDULING REVISED ON 07th April 1997

Record last edited

Apr 10 2013 4:33PM