Monument record MDO294 - Bowl barrow south of Came Wood, one of the Bincombe Hill Group, Bincombe

One of a group of five bowl barrows. 16m in diameter. Visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs. The site was digitally plotted as part of the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project.

(Centred SY 689853) Tumuli [NR] (1)

Group of round barrows south of Came Wood:
'A' Bowl (SY 68888525) Diameter 80 ft., ht. 7 ft.
'B' Bowl (SY 68918531) 70 yards north east of 'A'. Diameter 75 ft., ht. 5 ft.
'C' Bowl (SY 68958532) 38 yards east of 'B'. Diameter about 80 ft. Ploughed flat.
'D' Bowl (SY 69008533) 50 yards north east of 'C'. Diameter about 70 ft., ht. 2 ft.
'E' Bowl (SY 68938546) Ploughed out. (2,3)

In 1970 two pieces of daub and one small fragment of everted rim of pot were recovered from the north west quadrant of the barrows at SY 68918531 ('B'). The sherd is possibly coarse Beaker, according to Dr Longworth of the British Museum, and the presence of daub might possibly indicate that Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age structures existed in the vicinity. (4)

'A' SY 68888525 Diameter 38.5m, height 2.0m. No visible ditch.

'B' SY 68918530 Diameter 30.0m, height 1.0m. No visible ditch.

'C' SY 68968532 Visible as a very faint ground swelling but unsurveyable.

'D' SY 68998533. Diameter 18.0m, height 0.5m. No visible ditch.

'E' SY 68928546 Diameter approximately 16.0m, height 0.1m. Ploughed almost flat.

The barrows remain under plough.

'A', 'B', 'D' - Resurveyed at 1:2500 on MSD
'C', 'E' - Detail deleted from 1:2500 MSD. (5)

This group of barrows is probably part of those excavated by the Rev J J Smith in 1842. See SY 68 SE 39 for details. (6)



Bowl barrow, ploughed out. <1> One of a group of five. 16m in diameter. Visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs <3>. The site was digitally plotted as part of the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project.

This barrow was 16 paces in diameter and 1/2 foot in height. <5>

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 439 (Monograph). SDO150.

<2> Papworth, M, 1983, The South Dorset Ridgeway Project: condition and management survey, SDR 524 (Index). SDO12304.

Diameter 16.0m, ht. 0.1m. No barely visible in ley pasture. 1/6/E

<3> National Monuments Record, 28-JUN-2000, NMR SY6885/4 (Aerial Photograph). SDO12010.

<4> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South Dorset Ridgeway Barrow Survey 2010 (Unpublished document). SDO12407.

<5> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 91 (Monograph). SDO132.

Record last edited

Nov 22 2023 12:14PM