Monument record MDO1474 - Round barrow on Boarsbarrow Hill, Loders

A mound approximately 10 metres in diameter, interpreted as a probable round barrow. A large part of the centre of the mound has been dug out. The mound is faintly visible on lidar imagery and was digitally plotted during the Marshwood Vale NMP.

A mound on BOARSBARROW HILL is now almost unrecognisable. The name is significant however, and in "1930 the uprooting of a tree is said to have exposed a deposit of human bones." <1>

A [SY 49229390] The tree referred to was about the middle of the row shown on OS 6" 1931. There was no skull and no grave and no pottery was found but the bones were classified as human <2.1>. B [SY 49189383] a badly mutilated grass and tree covered mound with no trace of a ditch and sited on top of a conical hill and in the middle of a very disturbed area. Approx diameter 10.0 and approx height 1.0m.
If it were not for the significance of the name no serious consideration would be given to his mound but under the circumstances it is possibly a barrow - bowl shaped The site of the find of human bones is set well below the crest of the hill on land sloping steeply to the north. It is unlikely to be the site of a barrow. The spot was grass covered and there were no surface finds. <2>

' … on the north-east edge of the hilltop, pehaps slightly south-west of the location given in the S.M.R. One description in the S.M.R. calls it 'mutilated'. This seems accurate, for although there is the general impression of a mound over an area perhaps 10m in diameter, within this area the surface is undulating. This surface indicated that a large part of the centre of the mound had been dug out, with the spoil left around the excavated part. There are a number of well-established self-seeded trees on the mound.' <3>

The mound is faintly visible on lidar imagery and was digitally plotted during the Marshwood Vale NMP <4>. A second smaller feature lies immediately to the east.

Mound 'B' Located and surveyed. (3) NRHE: LS 25" (V. Northcott, April '61)

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 141 (Monograph). SDO97.

'MOUND, on Boarsbarrow Hill 580 yards S. of the church, has been reduced almost to unrecognisable traces. The name is, however, significant and in 1930 the uprooting of a tree is said to have exposed a deposit of human bones.'

<2> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F2 JR 02-MAY-55 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<2.1> Le Breton, Sir Edward, Oral: Sir Edward Le Breton, Loders Court, 2.5.55 (Verbal communication). SDO19080.

<3> Grinsell, L V, 1982, Dorset Barrows Supplement, 44 (Monograph). SWX1703.

‘LODERS | 1 | Boarsbarrow Hill | SY49189383 | [Diameter in paces] 11 | [Height in feet] 3 | OS Arch. 2 May 1955: doubtfully a mutilated barrow.‘

<4> Wallis, S, 1994, Report on a site visit to Boarsbarrow Hill, Loders (Unpublished document). SDO12401.

<5> Environment Agency, 2010, Lidar DTM, sy4993nw_dtm_50cm.asc (Aerial Photograph). SDO13148.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 450089 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 19 2022 11:10AM