Monument record MDO47809 - Badbury Barrow

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Summary

Round barrow near Badbury Rings contained several inhumations and cremations, plus a stone decorated with cup marks and representations of weapons

Map

No mapped location recorded.

Type and Period (0)

Full Description

(ST 9602) The 'Badbury Barrow', which yielded remarkable finds when destroyed in 1845, was situated near Badbury Rings (ST 90 SE 45). Under the barrow mound, which was some 60 feet in diameter and 9 feet high, a central cairn of sandstone blocks was enclosed in a ring of flints bordered by a circular sandstone wall 30 feet in diameter, Within the cairn were at least three inhumations, apparently primary, two of them with food-vessels and one with an ornamental handled pot.
Also probably in the cairn were at least fifteen cremations, a few perhaps primary, but most of them secondary, some with collared urns. At the centre, a huge slab of sandstone weighing half a ton was decorated with cup marks and carvings of daggers and axes similar to those at Stonehenge.

Opening another barrow in the same field, J.H. Austen found a primary cremation in a bucket urn with four lugs, in a charcoal filled cist.

(For possible sitings of these barrows see ST 90 SW 14 and ST 90 SE 52). (1-4)

A report on an opened tumulus one mile south of Badbury Rings bears many similarities with the feature recorded by authorities 1-4, and is probably the same barrow but seen by authority 5 at an earlier stage of its destruction. The barrow was 8 feet high, 225 feet in circumference and was opened for the purpose of obtaining flints. At 12 feet in from the outer edge, a circular wall of sandstone blocks, 3 feet high, was encountered, 'laid in a rude manner'. Within this was a fill of flints (of which 120 cartloads were wheeled away) shelving down towards the centre of the barrow. The nucleus consisted of chalk and 'mould', below which were 5 cists. Two secondary internments were noted. (The account of the barrow was communicated to the author by Dr Wake-Smart who compares the barrow to the tomb of Aepytus observed by Homer in Arcadia. Warne (auth 3) in his account of the Badbury barrow notes that Wake-Smart makes exactly the same comment concerning the Badbury barrow. There can be little doubt that authorities 3 and 5 are therefore refering to the same barrow).

Only 3 of the 10 or 11 urns discovered in 1845 have survived, but these indicate a Middle Bronze Age date. The carvings on a kerb-stone represent bronze weapons and cup-marks. The decorated surface of this stone was detached from its block and is now in the British Museum. (7)

Full description of the pottery and carved kerb-stone. (8)


<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 63 (Monograph). SDO129.

<2> Royal Archaeological Institute, 1846, Archaeological Journal 3, 348-352 (Serial). SDO20351.

<3> Warne, C, 1866, The Celtic Tumuli of Dorset (1866), 31 (Monograph). SWX8166.

<5> 1847, Journal of the British Archaeological Association 2 1847 336, 93-94 (Article in serial). SWX3559.

<6> Beckensall S and Hewitt I, 1987, Archaeology Today (Article in serial). SDO20532.

<7> Piggott, S, 1939, The Badbury Barrow, Dorset, and its Carved Stone; Antiquaries Journal, 291-299 (Article in serial). SDO16994.

<8> Payne, G (ed), 1892, Catalogue of the Museum of Local Antiquities collected by Mr Henry Durden of Blandford, Dorsetshire, 41 (Monograph). SDO17125.

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

Sources/Archives (8)

  • <1> Monograph: Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England). 1975. An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East). 63.
  • <2> Serial: Royal Archaeological Institute. 1846. Archaeological Journal 3. 348-352.
  • <3> Monograph: Warne, C. 1866. The Celtic Tumuli of Dorset (1866). 31.
  • <5> Article in serial: 1847. Journal of the British Archaeological Association 2 1847 336. Vol 2. 93-94.
  • <6> Article in serial: Beckensall S and Hewitt I. 1987. Archaeology Today. 51.
  • <7> Article in serial: Piggott, S. 1939. The Badbury Barrow, Dorset, and its Carved Stone; Antiquaries Journal. 291-299.
  • <8> Monograph: Payne, G (ed). 1892. Catalogue of the Museum of Local Antiquities collected by Mr Henry Durden of Blandford, Dorsetshire. 41.
  • <9> Digital archive: National Record of the Historic Environment.

Finds (5)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (0)

Location

Grid reference Not recorded
Map sheet Not recorded
Civil Parish Shapwick; Dorset
Unitary Authority Dorset

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Other Statuses/References

  • Legacy UID: National Monuments Record: ST 90 SE 40
  • Legacy UID: National Record of the Historic Environment: 209549

Record last edited

Feb 26 2024 12:02PM

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