Monument record MDO2953 - Pond barrow, one of the Culliford Tree Group, Whitcombe

A Bronze Age pond barrow, part of the Culliford Tree barrow group, a linear group of barrows ranged along part of the Dorset Ridgeway. Listed by RCHME as Whitcombe 12 and by Grinsell as Whitcombe 2a, it was recorded by the Ordnance Survey in 1979 as a slight circular depression circa 23 metres across and 0.2 metres deep. The surrounding bank had been largely ploughed out and was visible only as a chalk spread. RCHME had previously described the bank as being roughly circular and 15 feet wide. <1-3>

A Bronze Age pond barrow, part of a wider linear barrow cemetery. <6-7<

<1> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 143, 172 (Monograph). SDO132.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 459 (Monograph). SDO150.

'Eleven of the nineteen barrows are in the Culliford Tree Group (R.II), and four in a small Group (AB) on the N. slope from the Ridgeway … (12) Pond barrow (69998543), now only slight depression about 65ft. in diam. immediately S.E. of (11), surrounded by a rouughly circular bank, about 15ft. Wide (V.A.P. CPE/UK 1821: 6443).'

<3> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 16-NOV-1979 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<4> Papworth, M, 1983, The South Dorset Ridgeway Project: condition and management survey, SDR 591 (Index). SDO12304.

Diameter 23.0m, approx. 0.2m deep. Former bank now only visible as a chalk spread. Almost ploughed out. Ploughed in a field of ley pasture. 1/6/E

<5> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South Dorset Ridgeway Barrow Survey 2010 (Unpublished document). SDO12407.

<6> 22-APR-1954, NMR SY 7085/6-10 (Aerial Photograph). SDO10766.

<7> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1824 3284-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO10765.

<8> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 2K/07848 (Index). SDO14738.

CULLIFORD TREE BARROW

<9> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BF110930 (Index). SDO14738.

England's Landscapes

<10> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1338193 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 16 2025 7:09PM