Monument record MDO5634 - Disc barrow on Gussage Down, Gussage St Michael

Disc barrow. In 1975 this monument was reported as being around 150 feet in overall diameter with an outer bank and a shallow internal ditch around two conjoined mounds. Sherds of coarse pottery, probably of Bronze Age date, have been found in molehills on the mounds. Pieces of Romano-British pottery have been found at the base of the mounds.

Coarse probable Bronze Age sherds were found in molescrapes on top of both the mounds, and a considerable amount of Romano-British sherds at their base on the north side. <1>

A Bronze Age disc barrow located on a northeast-facing slope just below the crest of Gussage Down. RCHME describe the barrow as measuring circa 150 feet in overall diameter, comprising a shallow ditch circa 15 feet wide and outer bank circa 18 feet across and 1.5 feet high. Within the enclosed are two conjoined mounds measuring circa 50 feet by 30 feet overall and up to 1 foot high. Together they extend from the centre towards the southeast.

<1> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F1 JR 08-APR-54 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<2> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 112, 168 (Monograph). SDO132.

<3> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1964 (Map). SWX1540.

(SU 00141359) Tumuli (NR)

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 26 (Monograph). SDO129.

'(33) Disc (00141359), on a N.E. slope just below the crest of Gussage Down, lies 350 ft. above O.D. Measuring 150 ft. in overall diameter, the barrow has an outer bank some 18 ft. across and 1½ ft. high, made irregular by later ploughing, and a shallow internal ditch about 15 ft. wide. Within, two conjoined mounds, 50 ft. by 30 ft. overall and 1 ft. high, extend from the centre, S.E. to the ditch.'

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 213763 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 24 2022 5:09PM