Monument record MDO3695 - Thickthorn Bar Long Barrow, Chettle

A long barrow situated south of Chettle House at the top of a gentle south-east-facing slope, with the mound of the barrow being orientated ENE-WSW. The western end of the mound has been reduced by ploughing and no side ditches are visible. The barrow was opened around 1700 by antiquarians, who reported that 'a great quantity of human bones were found, and with them heads of spears and other warlike implements'. This find and another burial found in 1776 have been interpreted as later, possibly Saxon, burials though they may be secondary burials of Bronze Age date.

Neolithic long barrow listed by Grinsell as Chettle I. Two recorded episodes of excavations have only discovered secondary burials and objects, some suggested to be of early to middle Saxon in date. The barrow was dug into at the beginning of the 18th century, apparently by (or rather for) the Countess of Temple. According to Hutchins (1813), "an opening was made in the side of this barrow,…and beneath the level of the surface of the field a great quantity of human bones were found, and with them heads of spears, and relics of other warlike instruments, which were presented to the Earl of Pembroke, and are at this time at Wilton House" [note that this quote, taken from Banks 1900, differs slightly from that given by Warne]. Banks' (1900) diary of 1767 differs slightly in detail. The barrow had been opened about 40 years previously, when "one opening at the Eastern end…carried down a little way below the surface of the real Ground, when he found many Bones, Brass heads of Spears and some Coin…The other, situate about one third of the whole Length of the Barrow, more to the westward, was never carried deep enough. So nothing was discovered in it." Warne also quotes Hutchins as follows: "About 1776, the sheep having made a scrape on the side of this barrow, near the summit, and the earth having moulded away, a human skeleton was discovered: it lay on its back, was four feet long, and was quite perfect, though remarkably small, and quite even - judged to have been a female. It was not more than one foot beneath the sod." <4> <6>

The grave goods suggest an early or mid Saxon date for the burials. <7>

The mound is relatively well preserved at 85m in length, 19m wide and 2.6m high at its eastern end and 17m wide, 2.45m high at its western end. There are no signs of any side ditches adjacent to the mound. The results from the survey show a long linear anomaly to the south and parallel with the mound. It has been identified as the southern flanking ditch of the long barrow measuring 98m long and 4m wide. There is no evidence of a flanking ditch in the field north of the barrow.
A further linear positive magnetic anomaly is positioned at an oblique angle to the west of the long barrow. The strong response from this feature ends close to the original termination area of the mound, prior to erosion from ploughing. Another linear anomaly of similar width crosses the west of the survey area, possibly representing another boundary. <8>

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 13 (Monograph). SDO99.

'(16) LONG BARROW (95061280), S. of Chettle House, lies at the top of a gentle S.E.-facing slope on a low spur at 275 ft. above sea-level. The mound is orientated E.N.E.-W.S.W. and is 320 ft.long, 65 ft. wide and 8 ft. high. The W. end has been much reduced by ploughing and no side ditches are visible. When the barrow was opened, c.1700, a 'great quantity of human bones were found, and with them heads of spears and other warlike instruments', possibly indicating pagan Saxon intrusive burial. A further secondary or intrusive burial was found in 1776. (C.T.D., Pt.3, p.2; Dorset Procs.,XXI (1900),144-5; Hutchins III, 567.)'

<1.1> Gough and Cuming (eds), 1813, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. 2nd edition. Volume 3 (Monograph). SDO18352.

<1.2> Warne, C, 1866, The Celtic Tumuli of Dorset (1866) (Monograph). SWX8166.

<1.3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1900, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club for 1900, 144-145 (Serial). SDO14.

<4> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 77 (Monograph). SDO132.

<5> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(ST 95061280) Long Barrow (NR)

<6> Kinnes, I, 1992, Non-Megalithic Long Barrows and Allied Structures in the British Neolithic, No 52 (Monograph). SDO10065.

<6> Gill, M, 2021, Geophysical survey of three long barrows near Chettle, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO18135.

<7> Cherryson, A K, 2006, Gazetteer of Early Medieval Sites, 22 (Unpublished document). SDO17464.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 210068 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 11 2024 11:25AM