Monument record MDO1053 - Round barrow in Poundbury hillfort, Dorchester

A Bronze Age round barrow, visible as earthworks and cropmarks on aerial photographs. The barrow is visible as a banked and ditched earthwork on 1940s aerial photographs and current Lidar imagery and was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

A barrow situated within Poundbury Camp was evidently encircled by a "chalk berm or dwarf vallum" which could be traced as a scorch mark during the dry summer of 1896. <1>

A ditchless, grass covered bowl barrow, 31.0m diameter and averaging 1.5m high. No "chalk berm or dwarf vallum" could be traced. <3>

SY 68179110. Bowl (?) barrow, 85ft diameter and 5ft high situated inside the south rampart of Poundbury. Ploughed. <4-5>

The barrow is generally as described and measured by Authority (3). Slight indications of a possible berm are visible on the barrow viewed from the south-west, though this may be the result of natural spread. Revised at 1:2500 on M.S.D. <6>

Site of a Bronze Age round barrow lying within Poundbury Iron Age hillfort. A cropmark ring ditch, 33m across, is visible encircling the barrow mound on aerial photographs.<7-9>

The barrow is visible as a banked and ditched earthwork on 1940s aerial photographs and current Lidar imagery <7,8 and 10>. The earthwork is around 15m by 16m at its widest extents and is shown to be dissected by a wide trackway on 1940s aerial photographs (5). The remains of a possible ditch are visible on its east side on current Lidar imagery <10>. Also on its eastern side it appears slightly truncated by a later linear banked earth boundary (MWX1054).

The barrow is under low heathland vegetation on a 2014 VAP <11> and not clearly visible.

The feature was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project

<1> Moule, H J, 1897, 'The assistance of the sun in finding traces of destroyed earthworks and buildings'; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 171 (Article in serial). SDO10095.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1928-38 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 68169110) Tumulus (NR)

<3> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F1 JR 01.09.54 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<4> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 105 (Monograph). SDO132.

<5> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 444 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘(170) Bowl (?) (SY 69 SE; 68179110; Fig. p. 488) inside Poundbury (Hill-forts, Dorchester (172)) near S. rampart. Diam. 85 ft., ht. 5 ft. Ploughed.’

<6> Attrill, N J, Field Investigators Comments NJA, F2 NJA 23-APR-81 (Unpublished document). SDO14743.

<7> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 4258-61 (Aerial Photograph). SDO10882.

<8> Royal Air Force, 28-MAY-47, RAF_CPE_UK_2102 RP 3279-80 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15579.

<9> 02-FEB-1971, NMR SY6891/5-8 (285/306-318) (Aerial Photograph). SDO10883.

<10> XX-XXX-2015, Environment Agency DTM Lidar 1m (Aerial Photograph). SDO15442.

<11> GetMapping, 2014, Digital vertical aerial photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDO14101.

<12> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<13> National Record of the Historic Environment, 453415 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 31 2023 3:50PM