Monument record MDO4921 - Pillow mound on Earl's Hill, Tarrant Gunville

One of two similar pillow mounds each about 27m long and 5m wide, set about 150m apart on Earl's Hill. This, the western one of the two, is much reduced by ploughing.

(ST 90741422) Pillow Mound (NR). <4>

(31) PILLOW MOUND (90741422), an unploughed 'island surrounded by arable on the steep S. slope of Earl's Hill, lies parallel with the contours and is 85 ft. long and 16 ft. wide. A shallow ditch 7 ft. wide lies along the up-hill side, and a terrace 9 ft. wide, probably the remains of a ditch, lies along the down-hill side of the mound. From above the mound stands 1 ft. high; from below it is 4 ft. high. (Wessex from the Air, 20.) <5>

Two pillow mounds on Stubhampton Down; one at ST 90741423 and the other at approximately ST 90701423. <3>

Pillow mound at ST 90741422 is as described by RCHM (2) but is now slightly disturbed at the west end. Revised at 1:2500 on AM.

At ST 90601429 (approx), 150m northwest of the first mound, is another pillow mound occupying a similar position, it is in poor condition having been nearly levelled by scrub clearance. Length 18.0m width 4.2m, height on downhill side 0.4m and on uphill side 0.1m, there is a vestige of ditch on the north side of the mound. Divorced survey at 1:2500 on OS 495.

The position of a pillow mound at ST 90701423 given by Grinsell <3> is erroneous.

The first mound is visible on OS A/Ps but the second is not. <6>

Note: 2 pillow mounds were originally recorded under a single NRHE UID but were subsequently separated into 2 separate records on the Dorset HER - MDO4921 and MDO4905

<1> English Heritage, National Heritage List for England, 1019396 (Digital archive). SDO12876.

‘The monument, which lies in two separate areas of protection, includes a Late Neolithic to Bronze Age bowl barrow and part of a post-medieval rabbit warren on Earl's Hill. … The pillow mound, one of two similar mounds 150m apart, aligned east-west along the slope, has a square-ended mound 27m long, 5m wide and 0.6m high from the north and up to 1m high from the south. A drainage ditch up to 3m wide is visible on all sides except the western end of the mound. The western mound which has been reduced in height by ploughing, is no longer clearly visible on the ground and is not included in the scheduling.’

<2> Ordnance Survey, AP (OS 73-371 094) (Aerial Photograph). SDO18528.

<3> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 133 (Monograph). SDO132.

<4> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey map 6 inches to 1 mile, 1963 (Map). SDO11924.

<5> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 96 (Monograph). SDO99.

<6> Barrett, G, Various, Field Investigators Comments GB, F1 GB 26-JAN-78 (Unpublished document). SDO17369.

<7> Historic England, Scheduled Monument Notification, 09-Apr-01 (Scheduling record). SDO17468.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 210148 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 13 2022 10:03AM