Monument record MDO5682 - Bowl Barrow in the Simon's Ground Group, Ferndown

Bowl Barrow with adjacent urnfield, excavated in 1967 and 1968 by Dr D A White. This barrow consisted of a small mound surrounded by a ditch with a causeway on the south-east side. No burial was found but large quantities of charcoal and four post holes set in a rectangle. This was interpreted as the possible remains of a mortuary structure.

SU 061001. A number of Late Bronze Age burial urns were found in 1953 at Simon's Ground, Stapehill; it was reported that many more urns and other objects had been found in the past, but not kept. None of the urns recovered intact, apart from one whichcrumbled as it dried out. Some of the pots contained burnt bone. (1)

SU 06250005. A large Deverel-Rimbury urnfield with over eighty burials, and an immediately adjacent round barrow about 40ft. In diameter, were excavated in 1967. Trial trenching in areas adjacent to barrows revealed the existence of three more barrows, one with at least five secondary cremations in urns. At Simon's Ground, Hampreston. (2)

A group of five barrows excavated, or in the process of being excavated, by Dr White for the M.P.B.W. `D' SU 06240000: Site of barrow and urnfield excavated in 1967 (see auth.1.). Group surveyed 1:2500. (3)

Excavations were concluded in 1969; only barrow `A' was not excavated. About ninety urns were found.

D: SU 06240001. Bowl barrow, a small mound about two feet high, was surrounded by a penannular ditch four feet wide and 2 1/2 feet deep with a causeway on the south-east. A central setting of four post-holes, possibly a "mortuary house", was found beneath the mound. An urnfield of about 100 vessels lay immediately outside the ditch on the south. (4,6)

C14 determinations have been made for two of the barrows:
Barrow E (centre) -917 bc I 55 (BM-694)
Barrow E (pits in West part) 741 bc I 58 (BM-696)
Barrow C (Chancel in primary Urn) -604 BC I 47 (BM-692). (7)

Full report on the excavations. (8)

<1> Farrar, R A H, 1954, Archaeological Fieldwork in Dorset in 1953 & 1954. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 96 (Article in serial). SDO9753.

<2> Ministry of Public Buildings and Works, 1969, Excavations Annual Report, 8 (Serial). SDO20593.

<3> Wardale, C F, Various, Field Investigators Comments CFW, F1 CFW 25-MAR-69 (Unpublished document). SWX2704.

<4> Department of the Environment, 1969, Department of the Environment Archaeological Excavations 1969, 7-8 (Serial). SWX2426.

<5> White, D A, 1970, Excavations on Bronze Age and other Barrows in East and South Dorset for the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 175-176 (Article in serial). SDO20592.

<6> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 29 (Monograph). SDO129.

'Simon's Ground Group (36-40) comprises at least five barrows at the edge of a plateau, 100 ft. above O.D., overlooking lower ground to the S. Four barrows were excvated in 1967 and 1968 by Dr. D. A. White, to whom we are indebted for information which follows; (39) has not been excavated. Barrows formerly at about SU 06170005 and SZ 06379992 had been destroyed previously. (36) Bowl (06240001), a small mound about 2 ft. high, was surrounded by a penannular ditch 4 ft. wide and 2½ ft. deep, with the causeway on the S.E. Beneath it no burial was found, but much charcoal and a central setting of four post holes in a rectangle 3 ft. by 4½ ft., possibly the foundations of a ‘mortuary house’. An urnfield of about one hundred vessels lay immediately outside the ditch on the S.'

<7> Grinsell, L V, 1982, Dorset Barrows Supplement, 15 Table A (Monograph). SWX1703.

<8> White, D A, 1982, The Bronze Age Cremation Cemeteries at Simon's Ground, Dorset (Monograph). SDO14047.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 457862 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 14 2024 4:46PM