Monument record MDO2195 - Rainbarrows, Duddle Heath, Puddletown

A Bronze Age bowl barrow, one of a small group of three known as 'Rainbarrows'. In 1970 this monument was reported as being around 75 feet in diameter with a mound 7½ feet high, with traces of an encircling ditch. It is thought that this barrow is one explored by the antiquarian Edward Cunnington, who found what was interpreted as a primary cremation beneath a cairn. Bucket urns containing cremations, and said to be from the Rainbarrows are in the Dorset County Museum.

Three barrows (25-27), 'Rainbarrows', lie on Duddle Heath at just over 300ft OD near the S end of a ridge overlooking the valley of the R Frome.

'A' - (25) Bowl (73469212), has been much damaged by a large hole dug into the centre and by a boundary bank which crosses the E side of the mound. Part of the E side has been cut away to make a ride at the edge of a plantation. Diam 75ft ht 7 1/2ft Traces of ditch.

The most northerly of the 'Rainbarrows' (25) is almost certainly the one which was opened by Cunnington (Cunnington MS No 27; Dorset Procs XXXVII (1916), 43); a cremation lay 8 ft down, under a central cairn 12ft in diameter and 4ft high. Two (? three) bucket urns containing cremations from the 'Rainbarrows' are in DCM (Dorset Procs XXIX (1908), 136; Ant J XIII (1933), 446; Arch J CXIX (1962), 65). <3-4>

'A' SY 73469205. Bowl barrow, diameter 23.0m., height 2.7m., crossed by a hedge bank. Ditch 3.0m. wide and 0.3m. deep visible except on north side of hedgebank. All barrows are covered with dense bushes and undergrowth. Re-surveyed at 1:2500 on M.S.D. <5>

Site of a Bronze Age bowl barrow. <6-7>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1902 (Map). SWX1540.

(Centred SY 735920) Rainbarrows (Tumuli) (NR)

<2> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1916, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club for 1916, 43 (Serial). SDO25.

<3> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 129 (Monograph). SDO132.

<4> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 231 (Monograph). SDO136.

'Of the thirty round barrows which occur in the parish, monuments (25–37) and monument (47) lie on the heathland of the Reading Beds; the others are on Chalk. The most northerly of the 'Rainbarrows' (25) is almost certainly the one which was opened by Cunnington (Cunnington MS. No. 27; Dorset Procs. XXXVII (1916), 43); a cremation lay 8 ft. down, under a central cairn 12 ft. in diameter and 4 ft. high. Two (? three) bucket urns containing cremations from the 'Rainbarrows' are in D.C.M. (Dorset Procs. XXIX (1908), 136; Ant. J. XIII (1933), 446; Arch. J. CXIX (1962), 65). A barrow formerly existed at 73469104, near Norris Mill, but it was almost entirely carted away in 1872, being composed of sand and gravel; of twelve urns which were found in the top of it, two survive in D.C.M. (Cunnington MS. No. 5; Dorset Procs. XXIX (1908), 140; B.A.P. II, figs. 424, 424a; Arch. J. CXIX (1962), 65).
Three barrows (25–27), 'Rainbarrows', lie on Duddle Heath at just over 300 ft. O.D., near the S. end of a ridge, overlooking the valley of the R. Frome.
(25) Bowl (73469212), has been much damaged by a large hole dug into the centre and by a boundary bank which crosses the E. side of the mound. Part of the E. side has been cut away to make a ride at the edge of a plantation. Diam. 75 ft., ht. 7½ ft. Traces of ditch.'

<5> Barton, J G, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigator's Comments JGB, F1 JGB 07-NOV-80 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<6> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 4123-4 (Aerial Photograph). SDO10756.

<7> 15-FEB-2005, NMR SY 7392/3-5 (23748/10-12) (Aerial Photograph). SDO10755.

<8> Historic England, National Record of the Historic Environment, 455027 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 8 2026 12:33PM