Monument record MDO47848 - Oakley Down Barrow Group, Wimborne St Giles

A group of over 30 barrows on the eastern side of Oakley Down. Most are located within the angle created by the Ackling Dyke Roman road and the modern road (A354). Most of the barrows are bowl barrows, although some disc barrows are also present, as are some mounds which are probably not barrows at all. The barrows occupy two spurs which slope gently towards a dry valley to the east, though their location may be in part due to the presence of the Neolithic long barrow Wor Barrow (SU 01 NW 14), visible on higher ground to the west. Many of the barrows were dug into early in the 19th century by Colt Hoare and Cunnington, and it is possible to identify most of the mounds excavated by them. Some of the finds from their investigations are in Devizes Museum, Wiltshire. All of the barrows in the group were previously described at length as part of this record. In order to simplify matters, each has now been recorded separately (see child monuments and associated monuments), while this record refers to the barrow cemetery as a whole and contains some additional sources and information relevant to the group as a whole.

Oakley Down Group (map opp and Plate 78) consists of thirty-one barrows (94-124) on the E. side of the down, most of them lying in the angle between the Roman road and the modern road from Salisbury to Blandford; among them are six disc barrows. The barrows occupy two spurs which slope gently to a dry valley on the E. Possibly their siting is related to Wor Barrow (SIXPENNY HANDLEY (29), a Neolithic long barrow visible on higher ground some 500 yds. to the W. Many of the mounds were investigated by Sir Richard Colt Hoare and William Cunnington at the beginning of the 19th century (Ancient Wiltshire I, 236-43); some of their finds are in Devizes Museum.

Hoare's numbered plan makes it possible to identify the mounds which he examined, except for two small unnumbered barrows N.W. of the modern road; one of these contained a disturbed interment and the other contained a cremation (?Romano-British) with large-headed nails in a cist. There has been little subsequent excavation. 'Celtic' fields (Group (85)) intrude into the group, particularly on the N. side, and more recent cultivation has damaged many of the barrows, especially N.W. of the modern road. Two irregular elongated mounds within the group are probably not barrows; that at 02031737 is 90 ft. by 38 ft., formerly larger, and 4 ft. high; that at 02061760 is 62 ft. by 26 ft. and 1 1/2 ft. high. A slight mound at 02071769 is a 'Celtic' field angle, not a bowl barrow. (2)

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(SU 01921724) (Centred at) Tumulus (NR) (twice) Tumuli (NR) (three times)

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 102-104 (Monograph). SDO129.

<3> Bowen, H C, 1990, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke, 134-139 (Monograph). SWX800.

<3.1> Royal Air Force, RAF/CPE/UK/2058 4052 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20554.

<3.2> NMR SU 0117/10/108 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20555.

<4> Bowen, H C, 1991, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke: Inventory, 134-136 (Monograph). SDO14864.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 213502 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 7 2024 7:18PM