Monument record MDO4324 - Bowl barrow near Gore Farm on Melbury Down, Melbury Abbas

A Bronze Age round barrow in a prominent position below the crest of the hill, overlooking the valley to the north. The barrow survives as an earthwork mound surrounded by a ditch and some suggestion of an outer bank. There is a depression in the centre of the mound which may represent an unrecorded antiquarian excavation. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water.

The barrow lies in a prominent position below the crest of the hill and overlooking the valley to the north. The barrow has a mound 15m in diameter and 1.3m high. The mound is surrounded by a ditch, 2m wide and 0.3m deep, which is visible on all but its south side. Beyond this is a short length of an outer bank, c.2m wide and 0.2m high, visible on the downhill north west side of the barrow ditch. There is a depression in the centre of the mound which may represent an unrecorded antiquarian excavation.

A bowl barrow, 54 feet in diameter and 3 feet high, with traces of ditch and the suggestion of an outer bank. It appears to have been disturbed at the centre. <2>.

Situated in rough pasture at ST 89301884 below the lip of and overlooking a valley to the north is a well preserved bowl barrow. It has a diameter of 15.3m and is 1.2m high on its down slope side 0.5m on its upper. A vestigial ditch 0.2m deep and 2.0m wide is discernible around all but the south quarter and traces of an outer bank 0.4m high are visible on the down hill north side. The centre of the mound is mutilated by a depression 0.4m deep. Resurveyed at 1:2500 on AM. <3>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1962 (Map). SWX1540.

ST 89291884 Tumulus (NR).

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 48 (Monograph). SDO99.

'(8) Bowl (89291884), near the top of the N.-facing scarp of Melbury Down, lies at over 700 ft. above O.D. There are traces of a ditch and the suggestion of an outer bank ; it appears to have been disturbed at the centre. Diam. 54 ft., ht. 3 ft. The barrow may lie within the adjacent 'Celtic' field system.'

<3> Barrett, G, Various, Field Investigators Comments GB, F1 GB 14-JAN-78 (Unpublished document). SDO17369.

<4> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 119 (Monograph). SDO132.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 205886 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 11 2024 2:18PM