Monument record MDO3234 - Clandon Barrow, Winterborne St Martin

Clandon Barrow was partly excavated by Edward Cunnington in 1882. Cunnington did not find a primary crouched burial, but a cairn which he did not fully explore. Within the cairn were layers of clay, flint and ashes, and finds included a grooved bronze dagger, quadrangular gold plate, shale mace head with gold discs, incense cup and amber cup. Above this was a secondary cremation in Early / Middle Bronze Age urn of early type. Still higher were two secondary or intrusive skeletons in stone-lined graves. Visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs. The site was digitally plotted during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project.

Clandon Barrow, of bowl type (SY 65648900) - in prominent position above 300 ft. contour on flat ground at W. end of local ridge. Diam. 90 ft., ht. 18 ft. Markedly conical in profile. Cunnington partly excavated the mound in 1882 without reaching primary burial, and bottom of his pit being probably 9 ft. above original ground surface. About 6 ft. from the top was flint cairn about 1 ft. thick and 8 ft. in diam. Below it, sherds of an incense cup were scattered on a layer of white clay; among the flints were fragments of an amber cup; and on the flints were a grooved copper dagger with traces of a wooden sheath and an attached small bronze ring, a quadrangular gold plate and a shale mace-head with five gold-capped bosses. 1 ft. higher was a cremation in a crushed, typologically early, collared urn on a thin layer of ashes and small flints. 4 ft. higher and 2 ft. from the top of the mound two stone-lined graves, possibly Romano-British, lay E.-W. 4 ft. apart, each with an inhumation on a layer of fine sand. The mound largely consisted of layers of sands, clays and gravels. Finds in Dorset County Museum. <2> <4>

SY 65638900. Clandon Barrow, (name not confirmed), lies in arable. It is very steep sided, and although not ploughed over it has been
damaged by ploughing at the edges. Diameter 30.0m, height 5.5m, with a flat top of 5.0m diameter: there is no visible ditch. Re-surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. <6>

Clandon Barrow, Winterbourne St Martin 31. Of the finds from the excavation (Authy 2 and 4) some of which comprise a 'Wessex' I grave group, the macehead is of jet, the grooved bronze dagger is Gerloff's Amorico-British B (Cressingham type), the collared urn is Primary Series and the 'incense-cup' is a bipartite accessory vessel. <7>

The assemblage of material from the barrow is reinterpreted in the wider Atlantic and European context. The assemblage possibly represents a much deeper religious significance for the site than had hitherto been recognised. <9>

Bowl, 90ft. In diam and 18ft. High. Has been partly excavated by Cunnington in 1882 without reaching the primary burial. About 6ft. From the top was a flint cairn, about 1ft. Think and 8ft. In diam Below it sherds of an incense cup were scattered on a layer of white clay. Among the flints were fragments of an amber cup, and on the flints were a grooved copper dagger with traces of a wooden sheath and an attached small bronze ring. A quadrangular gold plate and a shale mace head with five gold capped bosses were also found. 1ft. Higher was a cremation in a crushed collared urn on a thin layer of ashes and small flints. 4ft. Higher and 2ft. From the top of the mound two stone lined graves, possibly Romano-British, lay E.-W. 4ft. Apart, each with an inhumation on a fine layer of sand. The mound laregly consisted of layers of sands, clays and gravels. Visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs <10>. The site was digitally plotted during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project.

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1937, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1936, 18-25 (Serial). SDO39.

<2> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 152 (Monograph). SDO132.

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

(SY 65638900) Clandon Barrow (NR)

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 471 (Monograph). SDO150.

<5> Coles, J, and Taylor, J, 1971, The Wessex culture: a minimal view (Article in serial). SDO16398.

<6> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 21-MAY-80 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<7> Grinsell, L V, 1982, Dorset Barrows Supplement, 4, 17-19, 56 (Monograph). SWX1703.

<7.1> Longworth, I H, 1961, The Origins and Development of the Primary Series in the Collared Urn Tradition in England and Wales. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 27, 263-306 (Article in serial). SDO20498.

<7.2> Gerloff, Sabine, 1975, The early Bronze Age daggers in Great Britain, and a reconsideration of the Wessex culture, Abt.6 Bd.2 (Monograph). SDO18691.

<8> Papworth, M, 1983, The South Dorset Ridgeway Project: condition and management survey, SDR 413 (Index). SDO12304.

Diameter 30.0m and Ht. 5.5m, with a flat top 5.0m in diameter. There is no visible ditch. Under est. grass in a cultivated field. 1/4/C

<9> Needham, S, and Woodward, A, 2008, The Clandon Barrow Finery: a Synopsis of Success in an Early Bronze Age World. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 74, 1-52 (Article in serial). SDO16387.

<10> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 3089-90 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11776.

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

<11> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<12> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB72/04012 (Index). SDO14738.

BOWL BARROW FROM SY 663 897

<13> National Record of the Historic Environment, 451916 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 17 2025 4:34PM