Monument record MDO153 - Bronze Age bowl barrow on Beaminster Down, Beaminster

Bronze Age bowl barrow, one of a small group on Beaminster Down. This is thought to be the barrow opened in 1874 by S S Cox, who found an upturned pot containing burnt bones near the centre of the mound, presumably the remains of a cremation burial. A second vessel was found at a higher level. The round mound is 15m across and visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. It was digitally plotted during the Marshwood Vale NMP.

[ST 49640343] TUMULUS [OE] (1)

A bowl barrow on Beaminster Down, situated 65yds. N. of the road, is 53ft. by 70ft. in diameter and 6ft. high. 1 With a hollow centre. (2)
Tumuli, situated near the turnpike road on Beaminster Down, were opened in 1874 by Lt.Col.S.S.Cox. Near the centre, about 5ft. deep, was found an inverted urn containing a cremation. A second urn was found about 2ft. from the surface. Pieces of the urns, and the calcined bones, have been preserved. The urns had "rush markings" around the rims. [R.Hine does not make clear which tumuli were opened and may be refering to the bowl barrows to the north - ST 40 SE 12]. (3)

A ditchless grass covered bowl barrow which has been completely gutted. Max.height 2.0M.,diam. 21.0M. (4)

The finds are now in Dorset County Museum. (5)

<1> Hine, R A, 1914, History of Beaminster (Monograph). SDO10607.

3

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1930 (Map). SWX1540.

[ST 49640343] TUMULUS [OE]

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 27 (Monograph). SDO97.

'(61) BOWL BARROWS, on Beaminster Down 1¾ m. N.E. of the church, are four in number. The more southerly (a), 65 yards N. of the road, is 53 ft by 70 ft. in diam. and 6 ft. high. ...These barrows were opened in 1874 by S.S. Cox who found in one of them, near the middle, an inverted "crock" full of bones and with charred wood lying near; a second vessel was found at a higher level (R. Hine, Hist. of Beaminster, 1914, p.3). '

<4> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F1 JR 26-MAY-55 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<5> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 87 (Monograph). SDO132.

‘H/C. This (or less likely no. 2) was opened 1874 by Lt.-Col. S. S. Cox: primary(?) urn inverted over cremated bones and wood ashes at depth of 5 ft.; another urn (secondary?) with cremation at depth of 2 ft. (3. ft. above former). The urns had ‘rush-markings’. Hine, R., History of Beaminster, 1914, 3.’

<6> Grinsell, L V, 1982, Dorset Barrows Supplement, 33 (Monograph). SWX1703.

<7> DCMS, 1996, Scheduled Monument Notification English Heritage Schedule Entry 18/11/1996, English Heritage Schedule Entry 18/11/1996 (Scheduling record). SDO17558.

<8> National Monuments Record, 16-FEB-2005, NMR ST 4903/1-2 (NMR 23810/01-2) (Aerial Photograph). SDO14518.

<8> Dorset County Council, XX-XXX-2009, Dorset CC Vertical Digital Photo Tile, ST4903.ecw (Aerial Photograph). SDO13314.

<10> National Record of the Historic Environment, 192994 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 11 2024 3:31PM