Monument record MDO1271 - Bowl barrow in the Black Down Group, Kingston Russell

A Bronze Age bowl barrow on the south-west end of Black Down, part of a loose scatter of barrows. This monument was described by the Ordnance Survey in 1955 as a mound 17 metres in diameter and 1.4 metres high, with a large sarsen on the top.

A bowl barrow, part of a loose scatter of barrows (see SY 59 SE 48 and associated monuments). Listed by RCHME as Kingston Russell 6e and by Grinsell as Kingston Russell 5, it was described by the Ordnance Survey in 1955 as a mound 17 metres in diameter and 1.4 metres high, with a large sarsen on the top. The top of the mound was slightly flattened and the stone, which measures 2 metres by 1 metre by 0.4 metre, may well be an original feature. <1-4>

Site of a Bronze Age bowl barrow on the south-west end of Black Down. The site is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. <6>

This barrow was originally recorded as part of SY 59 SE 48. That record should be consulted for additional sources and information. <8>

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 128 (Monograph). SDO97.

‘(6) GROUP OF BARROWS between the 500 and 600 ft. contours on or near the top of a ridge to the W. of Black Down and ¾ m. N.E. of Kingston Russell House. … (e) bowl barrow, 250 yards W.S.W. of (c), is 50 ft. in diam. and 5 ft. high, with traces of a ditch; on the top is lying a rough conglomerate stone 7 ft. by 3¾ ft. by 2 ft.’

<2> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 03-MAY-1955 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<3> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 115 (Monograph). SDO132.

<4> Bailey, C J, 1980, Excavation of three round barrows in the parish of Kingston Russell; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO18030.

<5> Papworth, M, 1983, The South Dorset Ridgeway Project: condition and management survey, SDR 24 (Index). SDO12304.

The barrow has a diameter 17.0m and height of 1.4m. The mound is covered in established grass while the surrounding field has been planted with a fresh growth of grass. There is little evidence of plough damage but erosion by livestock has worn the barrow bare of grass particularly on the west side. 1/2/B

<6> 02-APR-1969, NMR OS/69053 004-5 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11126.

<7> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South Dorset Ridgeway Barrow Survey 2010 (Unpublished document). SDO12407.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1316241 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 15 2024 4:32PM