Monument record MDO3183 - Bowl barrow in the Eweleaze Barn group, Winterborne St Martin

An Early Bronze Age bowl barrow, part of a linear barrow cemetery. Excavated in 1905. Also visible as a cropmarked ring ditch on aerial photographs.

Ten barrows including a pound barrow ('F') and a quadruple bell barrow ('K'), form an irregular linear cemetery orientated roughly North West to South East on top of the second spur east of Shorn Hill. 'K' is unique in England. 'A', 'C', 'D' and 'F' were excavated by St George Gray and Prideaux in 1902.

'B' Bowl (64798770) 180 yds South East of 'A' Diam 41 ft, ht 3 ft Excavated in centre. (2,3)

'B'. SY 64788770. Bowl barrow, in arable, which has been ploughed over. Diameter 20.0m., height 1.0m. Is truncated by 4.0m. On the east side. No visible ditch. Re-surveyed at 1:2500 on M.S.D.

(SY64828728; 64828720; 64818712) The cropmarks of three probable barrows on Crawford air photograph, could not be traced in arable field. (4)



An Early Bronze Age bowl barrow, part of a linear barrow cemetery comprising bowl barrows, a pond barrow, and a quadruple bell barrow (MDO3183-91).

Excavated in 1905 by Harold St George Gray and C Prideaux {1}.

The barrow is listed by Grinsell as Winterborne St Martin 44 and by RCHME as Winterborne St Martin 84. It is part of the Eweleaze Barn barrow group. At the time of excavation, the mound had already been reduced by ploughing, and was 93 feet in diameter and 2.75 feet high. No ditch was noted, but it seems that none was looked for. Beneath the mound were two crouched male inhumations, each in its own pit. One was accompanied by food vessel sherds and the bones of one or more infants. The other was unaccompanied. A secondary cremation was found in the mound, comprising an inverted collared urn resting on a stone slab, and containing cremated human bone in what appears to have been a woven grass bag or pouch. Near the centre beneath the mound was a circular pit 1.75 feet in diameter and 1.5 feet deep. The fill contained animal bones. A number of flints were recovered from the mound during the excavation, including scrapers, knives, cores and flakes. Also found was a shale disc and a sherd of "British" pottery. Air photographs suggest the presence of a narrow ditch, visible as a cropmark, surrounding the mound. It is circa 65-75 feet in diameter. In 1980, the Ordnance Survey recorded the barrow as having been ploughed almost flat. A low mound circa 16 metres in diameter and 0.3 metres high was visible, but there were no surface traces of the ditch {2-3}.

In addition, this site is visible as a cropmarked ring ditch on aerial photographs {4-5}, measuring approximately 23.5 metres in diameter. This site was digitally plotted during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project.

A bowl barrow, listed by Grinsell as Winterborne St Martin 45 and by RCHME as Winterborne St Martin 83. Both reported the existence of a hollow in the top, indicating an episode of probable antiquarian excavation, though no details are known. The barrow is part of the Eweleaze Barn barrow group (see SY 68 NW 56 and associated monuments). In 1980, the Ordnance Survey recorded the barrow, which was in arable land and under the plough, as a mound 20 metres in diameter and 1 metre high, with signs of truncation on the east side. No ditch was visible. This barrow was originally described as part of SY 68 NW 56. That record should be consulted for additional sources and information. <8>

<1> Gray, H St George and Prideaux, C S, 1905, Barrow Digging at Martinstown, near Dorchester (Article in serial). SWX2050.

<2> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 154 (Monograph). SDO132.

<3> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(Centred SY 648874) Tumuli [NR] (three times)

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 469 (Monograph). SDO150.

<5> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 06-MAY-80 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<6> Papworth, M, 1983, The South Dorset Ridgeway Project: condition and management survey, SDR 344 (Index). SDO12304.

Diameter 20.0m and ht. 1.0m. Grass covered in a field of kale. Damaged by a track on the E. 1/4/C

<7> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South Dorset Ridgeway Barrow Survey 2010 (Unpublished document). SDO12407.

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

<9> unknown date, NMR SY 6487/1 (CCC 11752/1633) (Aerial Photograph). SDO11941.

<10> National Record of the Historic Environment, 452448 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<11> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1268290 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 29 2024 10:41AM