Monument record MDO5415 - Bowl barrow on Bonfire Hill, Alderholt

Possible bowl barrow on Bonfire Hill. The site was visited by the Ordnance Survey in 1954, when an apparently circular mound approximately 18 m in diameter and 0.5 m high was noted under thick impenetrable gorse. No trace of a ditch was noted and it was not clear whether this was actually a barrow. (1, 2)

In 1986 the area had been cleared of gorse and heather, but was covered with heaps of soil and rubble instead. No trace of a mound was visible and nothing identifiable as a barrow was visible in the surrounding heathland. (3)

<1> Grinsell, L V, Dorset Barrows (Unpublished MSs) (Unpublished document). SWX2678.

'A bowl barrow on Bonfire Hill'

<2> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F1 JR 27-MAY-54 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

'Bonfire Hill is covered with thick gorse. The only feature noted which may be a barrow was an apparently circular mound under inpenetrable gorse. Approx. diameter 18.0m and height 0.5m. No trace of a ditch. It is not possible to pass a firm opinion on this mound.'

<3> Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1986, Dorset Barrow Survey, (Papworth, M D J, 12 March 1986) (Index). SDO134.

'The grid reference places this barrow immediately SE of a public footpath which skirts the edge of cultivated land to the NW. The barrow site has been cleared of gorse and heather and is now covered with heaps of soil and rubble. All traces of a mound havd been removed. The surrounding heathland showed nothing identifiable as a barrow.'

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 217567 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 24 2021 11:04AM