Monument record MDO1510 - Long barrow on Martin's Down, Long Bredy

A Neolithic long barrow on Martin's Down, part of a cluster of monuments including a bank barrow and several round barrows. In 1952 this monument was described as an earthwork about 116 feet long with ditches on both sides. The mound was between 42½ and 51½ feet wide at its widest point, and between 3 and 5½ feet high.

A: A long barrow. Length 110 ft, width 90 ft, height 6 ft. The orientation is E-W, and the barrow has side ditches which do not go round the ends. No. 139 in 'Neo. Wessex' . <3-5>

4. A: This long barrow has the following dimensions:- Length 32.0m; width 11.0m at the centre. It is slightly wider at the SE end and narrower at the NW. The maximum height, at the SE is 1.8m. The barrow is oriented NW-SE, not E-W (T3). It is flanked by mutilated side ditches which do not go round the ends. These ditches average 5.0m wide and 0.3m deep. … Both barrows are grass covered. See Aps: St.J/BJ/12 and 13. <6>

A Neolithic long barrow, listed by RCHME as Long Bredy 8 and by Grinsell as Long Bredy II, Ordnance Survey field investigation in 1955 recorded it as a mound aligned northwest-southeast and measuring 32 metres in length. It was 11 metres wide at the centre, and appeared slightly wider at the southeast end and narrower at the northwest. It was highest at the southeast end, measuring 1.8 metres. Parallel side ditches averaged 5 metres across and 0.3 metres deep, and did not carry on round the ends of the mound. <4> <6-7>

A Neolithic long barrow on Martin's Down. The mound is aligned northwest-southeast and measures 32 metres in length, it is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. <12>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1903 (Map). SWX1540.

[SY 57379097] TUMULI [OE]

<2> Crawford, O G S, Annotated record map 6 inch (Map). SWX7265.

[SY 57339090] "Long barrow"

<3> Grinsell, L V, 1935-54, Dorset Barrows 1935-54 Manuscript (Unpublished document). SWX1556.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 41-42 (Monograph). SDO97.

‘(8) BANK BARROW, LONG BARROW and BOWL BARROWS on Long Barrow Hill ¼ to ½ m. N. of the church (175 ft.-612 ft. above O.D.). … The Long Barrow (326° mag.), 220 yards S.E. of the bank barrow, is 116 ft. long and varies from 42½ to 51½ ft. wide at the base. It has flanking ditches and its height varies from 3 to 5½ ft. The broader and higher end is towards the S.E.’

<5> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1953, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1952, 81 (Serial). SDO52.

<6> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 27-APR-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<7> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 80 (Monograph). SDO132.

<8> Papworth, M, 1983, The South Dorset Ridgeway Project: condition and management survey, SDR 12 (Index). SDO12304.

Ditch definition not clear. Cattle erosion (particularly on northern side at east end) and problems with stock feeding adjacent to barrow (refer also SDR 13). Water reservoir constructed at west end of barrow, the other side of wired fence. Fence cuts close to west end of mound and across butt ends of flanking ditches. Probable plough and animal damage to mound. 1/2/B

<9> McOmish, D and Tuck, C, 2000, Long Bredy Bank Barrow, Long Bredy, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO16431.

<10> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South Dorset Ridgeway Barrow Survey 2010 (Unpublished document). SDO12407.

<11> 02-APR-1969, NMR OS/69053 012-3 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11106.

<12> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 882470 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME: Barrows in the Vicinity of Long Barrow Hill, Long Bredy, Dorset

<13> National Record of the Historic Environment, 451087 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 12 2023 7:03AM