Monument record MDO5183 - Bowl barrow, Turnworth

A bowl barrow situated to the north east of Turnworth, first noted by Rodney Legg. The barrow is irregular shape, owing to different land use in adjacent areas. In 1980 this barrow was recorded as being 15 paces by 10 paces, with a mound about eight feet high. The feature is visible as an oval banked earthwork bordering a historic field hedge on 1940s aerial photographs and Environment Agency lidar imagery. It was digitally plotted during the Mid Dorset Downs AIM project.

Found by Rodney Legg and subsequently visited by Norman Field on 21 November 1980. Reported as under grass with brambles. 15 paces by 10 paces with a mound 8 feet high. Uneven shape due to differential land use. <1>

Visited by Martin Papworth as part of the Dorset Barrow Survey. <2>

ST 8267 0807 Bowl barrow in Turnworth at ST 8267 0807. Ditch on North side (?) Shape due to differential land usage. Approximately 45x30 feet wide and 8 feet high. <1>

The feature is visible as an oval banked earthwork around 16.5m long by 11m wide and bordering a historic field hedge on 1940s aerial photographs and Environment Agency lidar imagery (RAF 1947; EA 2018). It was digitally plotted during the Mid Dorset Downs AIM project.

Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 RS 4167 (Aerial Photograph). SDO21622.

Environment Agency, xx-xxx-2018, Environment Agency National Lidar Programme DTM 1M (Aerial Photograph). SDO21483.

<1> Grinsell, L V, 1982, Dorset Barrows Supplement, 52 (Monograph). SWX1703.

<2> Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1986, Dorset Barrow Survey (Index). SDO134.

‘Visible as a prominent earthwork on the E edge of a field regularly ploughed, newly ploughed and planted with grass when visited. The W side of the barrow has been steepened by basal ploughing affecting 40% of its perimeter. The E side is unploughed in rough grass screened by a row of mature deciduous trees from the shallow ditch which runs parallel with the track aligned NW-SE further to E. The mound is covered in a dense growth of scrub including much blackberry and a holly bush. The top of the barrow has been excavated, leaving a hollow 5.0m diameter and 0.5m deep. Some large flints on surface of mound. No ditch visible in ploughed field. Faint traces perhaps to N and S, but merges with track-side ditch.’

<3> Historic England, National Record of the Historic Environment, 888598 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 30 2025 2:36PM