Monument record MDO3175 - Bell barrow on Shorn Hill, Winterborne St Martin

Round barrows on Shorn Hill. A bell, a double bowl and a bowl lie in a close-packed North-South straight line on top of a broad spur about 500 yds North of Bronkham Hill.

'A' Bell (62998721). Mound is steep-sided cone, 90 ft in diam and 12 ft high, with berm 18 ft wide. Ditch up to 30 ft wide and 1 ft deep, ploughed on South and barely visible on east. Its arc on North intersects south end of 'B', but there is no ground evidence of their relationship. One of the best-preserved bell barrows in Dorset. <1> <3>

'A'. SY 62998721. Bell barrow of overall diameter 52.0m., and height 5.2m. The ditch, 8.0m. wide and 0.5m. deep, is now visible on the south-west quadrant only. The width of the berm varies from 4.0m. to 6.0m. and is not clearly distinguished on the east and north sides; on the north side it has been mutilated by a track. The mound is well-preserved, the berm and ditch considerably disturbed. All the barrows are grass-covered. Re-surveyed at 1:2500 on M.S.D. <4>

Site of a possible Bronze Age bell barrow on Shorn Hill, one of a group of three barrows situated in this area (MDO3175-7), lieing in a close-packed North-South straight line on top of a broad spur about 500 yds North of Bronkham Hill.

Bell barrow of overall diameter 52.0m., and height 5.2m. The ditch, 8.0m. wide and 0.5m. deep, is now visible on the south-west quadrant only. The width of the berm varies from 4.0m. to 6.0m. and is not clearly distinguished on the east and north sides; on the north side it has been mutilated by a track. The mound is well-preserved, the berm and ditch considerably disturbed. <5>

Also visible as an earthwork mound on aerial photographs <6-9>, measuring approximately 20 metres in diameter. This site was digitally plotted during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project.

<1> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 153, 166 (Monograph). SDO132.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(Centred at SY 62998724) Tumuli (NR)

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 468 (Monograph). SDO150.

<4> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 15-FEB-80 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<5> Papworth, M, 1983, The South Dorset Ridgeway Project: condition and management survey, SDR 298 (Index). SDO12304.

Overall diameter 52.0m and ht. 5.2m. The ditch 8.0m wide and 0.5m deep is now visible on the SW quadrant only. The width of the berm varies from 4.0-6.0m and is not clearly distinguished on the E and N sides. The barrow and the surrounding field is under established grass but building operations in the near vicinity might threaten the barrow. 1/2/A

<6> Royal Air Force, 22-1-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 3295-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11932.

<7> Royal Air Force, 17-1-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 1063-5 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11906.

<8> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1824 3293-5 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11893.

<9> 14-6-1988, NMR OS/88184 647-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11954.

<10> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South Dorset Ridgeway Barrow Survey 2010 (Unpublished document). SDO12407.

<11> National Record of the Historic Environment, 452445 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 23 2025 1:23PM