Monument record MDO5942 - Long barrow, Pentridge

A long barrow incorporated into the north west bank of the Dorset Cursus, which it is thought to pre-date. In 1975 this monument was recorded as an earthwork 140 feet long with a mound 50 feet wide and 8 feet high at the north east end, tapering to 40 feet wide and 4½ feet high at the south west.

A Neolithic long barrow incorporated into the line of the Dorset Cursus (Linear 41). The barrow is listed by RCHME as Pentridge 18 and by Grinsell as Pentridge IV. RCHME described the barrow as a mound 140 feet long, measuring 50 feet wide and 8 feet high at the northeast end and 40 feet wide and 4.5 feet high at the southwest end. The barrow has been incorporated into the northwest bank of the Cursus, and its alignment differs slightly from that of the Cursus. The barrow is presumed to have pre-dated the Cursus, although Barrett et al (1991, 49) raised the possibility that the barrow may have been built alongside an earlier phase of the Cursus, becoming incorporated into the Cursus bank when the latter monument was enlarged. In the absence of excavation, this is highly speculative. <1, 3-5>

<1> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 81 (Monograph). SDO132.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(SU 02581694) Long Barrow (NR)

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 56 (Monograph). SDO129.

‘Four certain long barrows and one probable occur in the parish; they all appear to be associated with the Dorset Cursus (GUSSAGE ST. MICHAEL (9)). Barrow (19) is incorporated into the bank of the Cursus; the others are sited near and are aligned upon its N.E. end on Bokerley Down (Plate 56). All but (19), which has been planted with conifers, have been damaged by repeated ploughing around them.
(19) Long Barrow (02581694), on the spine of a low spur in Salisbury Plantation, has been incorporated into the N.W. bank of the Cursus. Its alignment (S.W.-N.E.) differs slightly from that of the Cursus, which it appears to pre-date. The mound, 140 ft. long, is 50 ft. across and 8 ft. high at the N.E. end, and 40 ft. across and 4½ ft. high at the S.W. end.’

<4> Bowen, H C, 1991, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke: Inventory (Monograph). SDO14864.

<5> Barrett, J, Bradley, R and Green, M, 1991, Landscape, Monuments and Society: the prehistory of Cranborne Chase (Monograph). SDO16633.

<6> McOmish, D and Tuck, C, 2002, The Dorset Cursus (Unpublished document). SDO16471.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 213548 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 5 2024 11:53AM