Monument record MDO5816 - Bronze Age bowl barrow, Long Crichel

A bowl barrow, one of a group of three excavated by S and C M Piggott in 1938. This barrow, which was reported as being 22 feet in diameter with a mound less than one foot high, contained a cremation burial associated with fragments of a bucket urn. Above this primary burial was a second cremation in a bucket urn. The barrow is no longer extant as an earthwork and was not visible on the available aerial photographs due to the area's use as a Second World War bombing range.

A Bronze Age bowl barrow, part of a group on Crichel and Launceston Downs excavated by the Piggotts in 1938 (see associated monument records). The barrow is no longer extant as an earthwork and was not visible on the available aerial photographs due to the area's use as a Second World War bombing range (see ST 91 SE 248 / UID: 1481331). The mound, which had been constructed on a slight natural rise, was 22 feet in diameter and 1 foot 7 inches high and surrounded by a ditch. At the centre was a pit circa 1 foot deep. It was filled with ashes and a few burnt bone fragments as well as the sherds of a pottery vessel which had apparently been burnt after breaking. A second pottery vessel had been placed partly over the backfilled pit and partly on the adjacent chalk and contained cremated bones. This site was originally recorded as part of ST 91 SE 58. <5>

<1> Society of Antiquaries of London, 1944, Archaeologia 90, 47-80, Piggott, S and CM. Excavation of Barrows on Crichel and Launceston Downs. [Barrow 1] (Serial). SDO16830.

<2> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 118 (Monograph). SDO132.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 39 (Monograph). SDO129.

'Three barrows lie on the S.E. slope of a spur overlooking the Crichel valley. Excavated in 1938 by S. and C.M. Piggot (op. cit.), they have since been levelled by ploughing … (16) Bowl (96241109), covering a central pit which contained the remains of a primary cremation burial associated with fragments of a bucket urn 'burnt after breaking'. Above the pit was a second cremation in a bucket urn (see also Arch. J., CXIX (1962), 63). Diam. 22 ft., ht. under 1 ft. (see Piggott, I).'

<4> English Heritage, English Heritage Alternative Action Report, SJ Lobb, MPPA, Mar-2000 (Scheduling record). SDO18279.

<5> Bishop, Sharon, RCHME/EH/HE Aerial Photographers comment SB, 17-SEP-2008 (Verbal communication). SDO19375.

English Heritage: Tarrant Launceston 15 and environs aerial photograph survey and analysis

<6> Bishop, Sharon, 2009, Tarrant Launceston 15 & Environs. Aerial Photograph Survey & Analysis, Object Number: MD002384 (Unpublished document). SDO12459.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1249259 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 9 2023 1:27PM