Monument record MDO4364 - Bowl barrow east of Warren Hill, Milborne St Andrew

A Bronze Age bowl barrow. The mound has been reduced in height by ploughing but has previously been recorded as having a mound 17m in diameter and 0.5m high, although it is no longer visible. The site is visible as a low earthwork mound on lidar imagery and was digitally recorded during the Dorset Upper Cerne and Piddle AIM Project.

A bowl barrow at SY 79879613, lies near the summit of a low spur sloping N and E at the N end of Warren Hill. The mound is much disturbed. Diam 35ft, ht 1 1/2ft. With (20) and (21) opened in 1881 by Mansell-Pleydell. A barrow which may have been this one contained three cremations, possibly primary, in cists. <3>

SY 79879613. Bowl barrow in arable, ploughed down since 1970 to diameter 17.0m., height 0.3m. There is no visible ditch. Re-surveyed at 1:2500 on M.S.D. <4>

Three round barrows on Warren Hill (SY 7995) (probably SY 79 NE31, 32 & 50) were opened by J C Mansel-Pleydell in 1881. The first barrow, which was on the summit of the hill, contained only ashes and a piece of pottery. The second contained three cremations, possibly primary, in cists. The third (almost certainly SY 79 NE50) was situated in a hedge running east to west on the south side of the hill, near the Tolpuddle boundary hedge. It contained a thick layer of black ashes at the centre and, on its north side, the remains of a coarse urn. <1-2>

It is more likely that Mansel-Playdell's first barrow is SY 79NE50 rather than his third. The Tolpuddle boundary hedge, in which the latter is situated, is on top of and not on the south side of the hill, so it is quite possible that his barrow was in the hedge, to the south of the boundary hedge. His first barrow cannot be either SY 79 NE 31 or SY 79 NE 32, because neither of these are on the summit. <4>

The site is visible as a low earthwork mound on lidar imagery and was digitally recorded during the Dorset Upper Cerne and Piddle AIM Project. <6>

National Record of the Historic Environment, 454618 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1884, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 30-32 (Serial). SDO4.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 79879613) Tumulus (NR)

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 1, 181 (Monograph). SDO146.

‘(22) Bowl (79879613), 465 yds. N.E. of (21), lies near the summit of a low spur sloping N. and E. at the N. end of Warren Hill. The mound is much disturbed. Diam. 35 ft., ht. 1½ ft.’

<4> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 07-OCT-80 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 454580 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<6> Environment Agency, 15-DEC-2023, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO20691.

Record last edited

Oct 10 2024 2:54PM