Monument record MDO3187 - Pond barrow in the Eweleaze Barn group, Winterborne St Martin

(Centred SY 648874) Tumuli [NR] (three times). (1)

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.

'F' Pond barrow (?) (64738738) 100 yds South South West of 'D'. Flint-paved, surrounded by bank 76 ft in diam and 4 ft high above centre of hollow. (2,3)

'F'. SY 64748738. Pond barrow in arable, with bank on western half of the perimeter only. Overall diameter 32.0m., depth 1.3m., with 4.0m. wide bank where existing. A good example. 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)


A probable pond barrow, part of the Eweleaze Barn barrow group. It was partly excavated in 1903 by Harold St George Gray and C Prideaux. While excavating other barrows in the group, they pitched their tent within the circular depression, which they suspected was "possibly a Bronze Age burial ground", though it had also been considered a possible pond. The depression was enclosed within a bank which measured 76 feet in diameter and stood circa 3 feet high. The centre of the depression was about 1.5 feet lower than the ground outside the bank. As far as excavation is concerned, Gray and Prideaux merely noted that "we failed to find any evidence of its having been lined with clay", thus ruling out interpretation as a pond. It is unclear if any trenches were actually dug. They note simply that "The crow-bar was brought into requisition here, and was found to strike hard substance, probably flints, within a few inches of the surface". In 1980, the Ordnance Survey described the monument as having an overall diameter of 32 metres, a maximum depth of 1.3 metres, and a bank 4 metres wide, but surviving as an earthwork on the western half of the perimeter only. <1-3>

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

In 1980, the Ordnance Survey <4> described the monument as having an overall diameter of 32 metres, a maximum depth of 1.3 metres, and a bank 4 metres wide, but surviving as an earthwork on the western half of the perimeter only.

In addition, this site is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs <5>, measuring approximately 26 metres in diameter. This site was digitally plotted during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project.

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

Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

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

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1904, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club for 1903 (Serial). SDO16.

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

<3> 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.

<4> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<5> 12-6-1956, CUCAP (TC8) (Aerial Photograph). SDO11942.

<6> Papworth, M, 1983, The South Dorset Ridgeway Project: condition and management survey, SDR 347 (Index). SDO12304.

Pond barrow in ley pasture with a bank on the W half of the perimeter only. Overall diameter 32.0m, depth 1.3m and 4.0m wide bank where existing. This outer bank has been reduced by ploughing. 7/4/C

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

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1268559 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 27 2024 4:54PM