Monument record MDO4954 - Long barrow, Tarrant Hinton

A long barrow. The mound was described in 1972 as being 315 feet long, up to 75 feet across and 10 feet high, with irregular and disturbed side ditches. The remains of a possible Napoleonic telegraph station (MDO44846) is visible set into the top of the barrow mound on aerial photographs dated 1928 and 1947. The feature is visible as an earthwork on current Environment Agency lidar imagery and was digitally plotted from this source during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM project.

A long barrow. The mound was described in 1972 as being 315 feet long, up to 75 feet across and 10 feet high, with irregular and disturbed side ditches.

Long barrow at Telegraph Clump on Blandford Race Down. The barrow mound measures 107 metres long, 23 metres wide and stands up to 3 metres high. It now has two tiers, which may indicate a berm platform. Traces of a surrounding quarry ditch survive around the mound. The barrow has been damaged by military activity in the past. <4>

The feature is visible as an earthwork on current Environment Agency lidar imagery where it comprises a 100m long and 33m wide elongated mound with exterior ditches along its north and south sides, and outer banks alongside these <5>. A further section of the outer ditch around the western end of the barrow is visible on a 1947 aerial photograph <6>. The monument is visible to some extent on aerial photographs dated 1928 and 1947, where the possible remains of a Napoleonic shutter telegraph station (MDO44846) can be seen set into the top of the barrow mound <6, 7, 8>. The feature was digitally plotted from lidar imagery during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM project.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 100 (Monograph). SDO99.

'(23) Long Barrow (92270935), at Telegraph Clump, lies across the parish boundary with Tarrant Launceston and forms part of the Telegraph Clump barrow group (see below, (27-34)). The barrow is aligned W.N.W.-E.S.E. along the summit of a Chalk ridge, at an altitude of 400 ft. The mound, damaged by a modern brick structure, is 315 ft. long, up to 75 ft. across and 10 ft. high; between it and the irregular and disturbed side ditches are the remains of a berm. … Telegraph Clump Group comprises eight barrows (27-34), together with long barrow (23), all over 360 ft. above O.D., on and near the summit of a Chalk ridge. Barrows (29-32) lie close together in a line immediately W. of (23); the others are more scattered. It is possible that some of these barrows, together with neighbouring barrows in Tarrant Launceston, were opened in the 19th century. W. Shipp opened a barrow 'near the Telegraph' which contained a human leg-bone beneath a large cairn (C.T.D., Pt. 2, no. 5). J.H.Austen opened two barrows in the same area; in one he found a primary cremation in a cist, in the other he found nothing (Ibid., nos. 25 and 26). In 1840 Austen opened another barrow 'near the Race Course', which contained a primary crouched interment with a long-necked beaker (Ibid., no. 23 and Pl. VII, no. 1).'

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 scale map, 1976 (Map). SDO17396.

(ST 92270933) Long Barrow (NR)

<3> Cox, P W and Chandler, J, 1995, A Preliminary Archaeological Assessment of Proposed Works at Blandford Army Camp, Dorset: New Northern Perimeter Fence and Playing Fields, Site 9 (Unpublished document). SDO13904.

<4> English Heritage, Scheduling Amendment, 15-JUL-2003 (Scheduling record). SDO17245.

<5> Environment Agency, 16-NOV-2021, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO18034.

<6> Royal Air Force, 11-APR-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1975 RS 4008 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18888.

<7> Crawford, O G S, 17-JUL-1928, CCC 8837/420 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18887.

<8> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 FS 2153 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18613.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 209324 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 25 2024 4:23PM