Monument record MDO40187 - Ring ditch on Ogden Down, Gussage St Michael

A cropmark of a ring ditch on Ogden Down shown by excavation in 1991 by Martin Green to represent the plough-levelled remains of a Middle Bronze Age barrow. Identified initially on aerial photograph and first reported by Martin Green and Barry Lewis. Part of a small cluster of monuments, including other ring ditches, located a short distance from the Dorset Cursus, not far from the southwest terminal. Approximately 12 metres in diameter. The ditch had been recut, representing two main constructional phases. The first phase saw an internal mound separated from the ditch by a berm. The primary burial beneath the mound was a Middle Bronze Age cremation in a bucket urn, deposited in a central pit. The berm, circa 1 metre wide, was the focus for further cremation burials, mainly on the northern and western sides. Several of these cremations were badly damaged by ploughing. Three were contained within bucket urns, two were accompanied by sherds, and another 8 were unaccompanied. During the second phase, the ditch was deepened and the mound expanded to cover the berm. This phase also seems to belong to the Middle Bronze Age.

ST 97141291. Ring ditch, diameter 12m, seen as soil mark by Mr M. Green. <2, 3>

Ring ditch identified on aerial photograph. Associated with two other ring ditches close by. Approximately 12 metres in diameter. Seen as soil mark by Mr M Green.
Ring ditch was added to the Week Street Down Group (RCHM 1975, 26 <1>) and (Bowden 1991 RCHME, 7 <3>)

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 26 (Monograph). SDO129.

There is evidence of twenty round barrows in the parish, most of them levelled or badly damaged by ploughing. They are found on the two Chalk ridges which cross the parish, Week Street Down in the extreme W. and Gussage Hill in the centre. … Eight barrows (18–25) are scattered over the E. slopes of Week Street Down between 220 ft., and 280 ft. above O.D. All have been greatly reduced by heavy ploughing. They were probably all opened by Warne in 1848, but it is not possible to correlate his account with individual barrows (C.T.D., Pt. 1, Nos. 15–21). From the barrows excavated he recorded the following: No. 15, a primary inhumation and a secondary cremation in a cist; No. 16, two secondary or intrusive inhumations; No. 17, a very low mound, a primary crouched inhumation; No. 18, an urn from the centre and a secondary cremation to the N.W. with remains of a small urn; No. 19, six cremations in cists, two with fragments of urns; No. 20, a cremation with pottery in a cist, and a large urn containing a cremation; No. 21, no finds.

<2> Bowen, H C, 1990, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke (Monograph). SWX800.

<3> Bowen, H C, 1991, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke: Inventory, 7 (Monograph). SDO14864.

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1993, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1992, 220-4 (Serial). SDO92.

Green, M. Excavations of a prehistoric ceremonial complex at Ogden Down, Gussage St Michael.

<5> 1994, Current archaeology (Volume 138), 216-225 (Serial). SDO19397.

Green, M. Down Farm.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 620879 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 13 2023 12:36PM