Monument record MDO2956 - Bowl barrow, one of the Culliford Tree Group, Whitcombe

A mound interpreted as a possible Bronze Age bowl barrow. In 1970 this monument was reported as being around 40 feet in diameter and 1 foot high, and earthy in character. It was not visible on the aerial photos examined during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project.

A possible Bronze Age bowl 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 15 and by Grinsell as Whitcombe 5, it was described in 1979 by the Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division as a largely ploughed-out mound 13 metres in diameter and 0.2 metres high. RCHME were clearly unsure about interpreting this feature as a round barrow, noting that what survived of the mound was "markedly earthy, with no sign of chalk make-up or ditch". <1-3>

A possible Bronze Age bowl 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 15 and by Grinsell as Whitcombe 5, it was described in 1979 by the Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division as a largely ploughed-out mound 13 metres in diameter and 0.2 metres high. <7>

Alleged site of Bronze Age bowl barrow. This site was not visible on the aerial photos examined during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project and therefore not plotted.

<1> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 143 (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.

'(15) Bowl (?) (70128538) immediately E. of (14). Diam. about 40 ft., ht. 1 ft. Markedly earthy, with no sign of chalk make-up or ditch. '

<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 Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 16-NOV-1979 (Unpublished document).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 595 (Index). SDO12304.

Probable barrow diameter 13.0m, ht. 0.2m. Ploughed down in ley pasture. 1/6/E

<5> McOmish, D and Tuck, C, 2001, Broadmayne Bank Barrow, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO16432.

<6> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South Dorset Ridgeway Barrow Survey 2010 (Unpublished document). SDO12407.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1338117 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 16 2025 7:09PM