Monument record MDO43891 - Long barrow, Pasonage Hill, Gussage St Michael

A probable Neolithic long barrow located on Parsonage Hill, just west of the village of Gussage St Michael, near the crest of a ridge between the Gussage and Crichel valleys, overlooking the former. Ordnance Survey fieldwork in 1954 described the mound as under the plough, 32 metres by 23 metres, and up to 1.4 metres high. The surrounding ditch features a wide causeway on the southern end of the mound. As well as spreading the mound, giving it an almost circular appearance, ploughing has also obscured detail of the ditch, especially at the barrow's northern end. There is no record of any excavation, although a gradiometer survey was carried out in 2020 and helped to establish the form of the long barrow.

(ST 98131138) Tumulus (NR). <3>

Probable long barrow, under plough. It measures 32.0m by 23.0m and is 1.4m high, with a ditch up to 9.0m wide by 0.6m deep. The ditch on the N has been destroyed by a modern road. Long Barrow (98131138), on Parsonage Hill, lies about 280ft. above O.D., near the crest of the ridge between the Gussage and Crichel valleys, overlooking the former. Ploughing has spread the mound, now 3 1/2 ft high and about 70 ft. in diameter; it has also obscured the side ditches which are very broad and shallow, especially at the N end. The ditches begin to curve around the S. end of the mound, but they are interrupted by a substantial gap. <1, 4>

Close examination of aerial photography identified a ditch that slights this monument on its south side possibly connecting with its wide ditch. <6>

The long barrow Gussage St Michael 10 is located on Parsonage Hill, 300m west of the village of Gussage St Michael. The survey area was set up into fourteen 20m grid sqaure and a gradiometer was set up to take reading every 0.25m along a traverse, with an interval of 1m. From the resulting summary of magnetic anomalies a series of ditches, a potential causeway and the long barrow itself can all be located. <8>

<1> Swatridge, G C, Various, Field Investigators Comments GCS, F1 GCS 02-APR-54 (Unpublished document). SWX1169.

<2> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 79 (Monograph). SDO132.

<3> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 24 (Monograph). SDO129.

<5> Kinnes, I, 1992, Non-Megalithic Long Barrows and Allied Structures in the British Neolithic, Volume no. 52. [Cranborne Chase: ST 8] (Monograph). SDO10065.

<6> National Monuments Record, 16-FEB-2005, NMR ST 9811/8 NMR 23813/05 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18961.

<7> Historic England, Historic England Archive, Object Number: MD002804. (Index). SDO14738.

Object Title: Gussage St Michael Survey. Scope & Content: Aerial Survey record. Material held by Aerial Survey.

<8> Gill, M, 2020, Geophysics Survey of the Gussage St Michael 10 Long Barrow (Unpublished document). SDO16590.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 210041 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 1 2022 3:56PM