Monument record MDO4384 - Ring ditch, Milborne St Andrew

A ring ditch around 20 metres in diameter. Interpreted as the probable remains of a round barrrow, reduced by ploughing. The site including, traces of an internal mound, is visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs and was digitally recorded during the Dorset Upper Cerne and Piddle AIM Project.

Cropmarks of two probable ditched round barrows, 'C' and 'D', are visible on air photographs, close to 'A' and 'B'. 'C' at SY 81649676 measures approximately 20.0 metres in diameter while 'D' at SY 81519675 measures approximately 15.0 metres in diameter. (3)

Nothing is visible on the ground of cropmarks 'C' and 'D'. (4)

A third barrow ('E') is shown at about SY 81629687 on OS 2" Drawing of 1805, and on OS 1" of 1811. No trace on RAF air photographs. (5)

The monument includes two bowl barrows and two other probable bowl barrows, which are visible as ring ditches on aerial photographs, on a low ridge below Milborne Down, 450 metres north-west of Haywards Farm. The barrows form part of a group of five similar monuments, of which four can now be identified.
The two bowl barrows which are situated to the north each have a mound 20 metres in diameter and up to 0.7 metres high. The two ring ditches were recorded by the Ordnance Survey in 1981 and are known to have diameters of 20 metres, including the ditch. A fifth barrow, shown on Ordnance Survey drawings of 1805 and 1811, may have previously existed but, as it is not visible on aerial photographs and can no longer be verified on the ground, it is not included in the scheduling. Three unlocated barrows on the lower part of Milborne Down were excavated by Charles Warne in the mid-19th century and it is possible that this excavation refers to this group of barrows. The investigations revealed in three separate barrows: a primary cremation in an urn placed in a cist, a primary inhumation of an adult on a sandstone paved floor with a secondary inhumation of an infant, and a primary inhumation covered by a cairn with three subsequent inhumations placed in the cairn and a secondary cremation in the mound. (7)

Four unlocated barrows on Milborne Down were opened by C Warne (1866) and numbered 22-25.

The site including, traces of an internal mound, is visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs (8) and was digitally recorded during the Dorset Upper Cerne and Piddle AIM Project.

National Record of the Historic Environment, 455880 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<1> Warne, C, 1866, The Celtic Tumuli of Dorset (1866) (Monograph). SWX8166.

<2> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 120 (Monograph). SDO132.

<3> Attrill, N J, Field Investigators Comments NJA, F1 NJA 21-JAN-81 (Unpublished document). SDO14743.

<3.1> Ordnance Survey, 18-APR-1980, OS 80/021/158-9 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19595.

<4> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F2 JGB 20-MAY-81 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<5> Waggott, Thomas Pilling, Field Investigators comments TPW, R2 TPW 15-JAN-82 (Unpublished document). SDO17968.

<6> Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1986, Dorset Barrow Survey (Index). SDO134.

‘No visible trace in a field regularly ploughed under a crop of turnips growing through grass when visited. Ploughed out. Papworth MDJ, TWA 17 December 1985.’

<7> English Heritage, Scheduling Amendment, 19-SEP-2000 (Scheduling record). SDO17245.

<8> Ordnance Survey, 18-APR-1980, OS/80021 V 158 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20771.

Record last edited

Sep 12 2024 2:05PM