Monument record MDO1513 - Long Bredy Hut: Bronze Age bell barrow

One of four barrows in the area, probable bell barrow, 75ft. in diam and 5ft. high, it has a ditch. <1>

Mound has cavity in top, berm and ditch over spread on North, elsewhere berm is narrow and sloping. <3>

One of two scheduled Bronze Age barrows to the north of the Roman road at Long Bredy Hut. Visible on aerial photographs. <5-6>

A bell barrow, listed by Grinsell as Long Bredy 4b and by RCHME as Long Bredy 9(c). Ordnance Survey field investigation in 1955 recorded it as a mound 27 metres in diameter and 2.7 metres high with a berm 3 metres wide visible on the west side of the mound. The mound is completely surrounded by a deeply cut modern track which has probably destroyed the ditch as well as the berm on the east side. The centre of the mound features a hollow 8 metres in diameter and 2 metres deep. <8>

NRHE rest of group:

1. ["A" SY56929142]
["B" SY56959139] TUMULUS [OE]
["C" SY57029134] TUMULUS [OE]
[SY 56999136] Stone (1-2)

2. D. SY56709146. E. SY 57109135.

A. A bell barrow: The mound is 61 ft in diameter, with a berm 9 ft wide and a ditch 9 ft wide and 1 ft deep. The mound has a cavity in the top. On the N the berm and ditch overspread, but elsewhere the berm is narrow and sloping. [Height not given]

B. A bell barrow: The mound is 85 ft in diameter and 9 ft. high; the berm 10 ft wide, and the ditch 10 ft wide and 1 ft. deep. Berm and ditch are quarried away on the S and impinged upon by road on NE. The mound has a hollow 5 ft deep in the top.

C. A bowl barrow, diameter 20 paces, height 9 ft.

D. A bowl barrow, diameter 13 paces, height 4 ft. Damaged.

E. A probable bowl barrow. [No measurements given] (3)

[Similar information for all barrows but 'E' which is not mentioned] (4)

3. D: SY 56669147

A: A bell barrow, 21.0m in diameter and 2.0m high with a poorly defined berm, most visible on the W side, where it is 2.5m wide. There is a hollow in the top of the barrow 6.0m in diameter and 1.5m deep. The ditch surrounding the barrow is 2.0m wide and 0.2m deep.

B: A bell barrow, 27.0m in diameter and 2.7m high and a berm 3.0m wide on the W half of the barrow. There is a hollow in the centre of the barrow, 8.0m in diameter and 2.0m deep. The mound is completely surrounded by a deeply cut modern track, which has probably destroyed the ditch, and the berm on the E. half.

Both barrows, A and B, are grass covered.

C: A grass covered bowl barrow with no visible ditch, situated in a ploughed field. The mound is 15.0m in diameter and 3.0m high. The barrow is mutilated by rabbits, and has very steep sides, as though it has been rebuilt.

D: A grass covered, ditchless bowl barrow. It has a diameter of 13.0m is 1.2m high on the N side, and 0.5m high on the S side,
where it has been dug into.

E: There is no evidence on the ground that a barrow ever existed at the site indicated in T2. The area is under the plough. A very doubtful site.

The reference to a 'stone' in T1 applies to a small sarsen which appears to be of little significance and unconnected with any antiquity. This stone is situated 25.0m to the E of barrow C. (5)

4. Barrow "C and stone destroyed by road-widening. (6)

The barrow at SY 5702 9134 was excavated in 1964 in advance of a road widening scheme. It was probably constructed in the Early Bronze Age. The secondary burial in a central pit is Bronze age and Durotrigian pottery was found in the outer ditch of the barrow, presumably from ploughing.

While excavating the barrow, the alleged site of a toll house built in 1753 was examined but there was no trace of any structural evidence. (7)

NB this record now deals solely with barrow 'A' above. The remainder have been recorded separately. Please consult the following records for details: 'B' - SY 59 SE 102; 'C' - SY 59 SE 97; 'D' - SY 59 SE 103; 'E' - SY 59 SE 104.

A bell barrow, listed by Grinsell as Long Bredy 4a and by RCHME as Long Bredy 9(c). Ordnance Survey field investigation in 1955 recorded it as a mound 21 feet in diameter and 2 metres high with a poorly defined berm most visible on the west side where it was 2.5 metres across. The surrounding ditch was 2 metres wide and 0.2 metres deep. A hollow in the top of the mound measured 6 metres in diameter and 1.5 metres deep. (4, 5, 8)

Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB86/05025 (Index). SDO14738.

VIEW OF 2 BELL BARROWS (A+B). 3 BOWL BARROWS ARE CLOSE BY. Donor: UNKNOWNCopyright: UNKNOWN

Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Large Scale/Small Scale Map Reviser's comments, SS Reviser July 68 (Verbal communication). SDO19451.

Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1903 (Map). SWX1540.

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

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1980, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1978, 45-53 (Serial). SDO78.

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

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 42 (Monograph). SDO97.

‘(9) BARROWS, N. of the road-junction on Martin’s Down about ½ m. N. of the church, are four in number. (a) bowl barrow, 60 yards E. of the road-junction, is 62 ft. in diam. and 10 ft. high. (b) probably a bell barrow, 100 yards W.N.W. of (a), is 90 ft. in diam. and 6 to 9 ft. high; the middle has been disturbed; there are traces of a ditch. (c) probably a bell barrow, 45 yards N.W. of (b), is 75 ft. in diam. and 5 ft. high; it has a ditch. (d) perhaps a bowl barrow, 260 yards W.N.W. of (c), is approximately 40 ft. in diam. and 3½ ft. high; it has been ploughed.’

<2> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 27-APR-1955 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<3> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 117 (Monograph). SDO132.

<4> Papworth, M, 1983, The South Dorset Ridgeway Project: condition and management survey, SDR (Index). SDO12304.

Depression in centre due to past excavation, eroded by cattle and cut away at base due to ploughing. In ley pasture. 1/3/C

<5> 16-FEB-2005, NMR SY5691/8-9 (23818/08-9) (Aerial Photograph). SDO11105.

<6> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 3149-50 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11104.

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

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1315627 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 17 2023 8:47AM