Monument record MDO5950 - Long barrow, Pentridge

A barrow listed by RCHME as Pentridge 26 and by Grinsell as Pentridge 8. Originally interpreted as a bowl barrow, it was described by RCHME as a mound damaged by ploughing but formerly measuring around 45 feet in diameter and 4.5 feet high. Subsequently, the RCHME (in Bowen 1990; 1991) noted the appearance on air photographs of an oval cropmark orientated roughly northwest-southeast, and a maximum of 45 metres across, with a pit visible at each end, suggesting this monument may be a long barrow. Located around 80 metres north of the Dorset Cursus (Linear 41), this is one of a dispersed group of barrows in and around the modern village of Pentridge. Geophysical survey by the Avon Valley Archaeological Society in 2024 confirmed this monument is likely to be a long barrow with large flanking ditches.

Bowl barrow on a low ridge just north west of Pentridge village; much damaged by ploughing. Former diameter 45 ft, height 4 1/2 ft. <3>

SU 03091797. 82m NW of the Dorset Cursus. Ploughed-out oval, 45m maximum dimension, on a NW-SE axis, with a pit at each end; a grey 'halo' around it may relate to spread from the original core of the barrow rather than a ditch. <4>

Gill, M, 2025, Geophysical Survey of the Pentridge 26 Long Barrow (Unpublished document). SDO21274.

<1> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 123 (Monograph). SDO132.

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

(SU 03091797) Tumulus [NR]

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 57 (Monograph). SDO129.

<4> Bowen, H C, 1990, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke (Monograph). SWX800.

<4.1> British Gas Corporation, BGC VAP 9475 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18031.

<5> Bowen, H C, 1991, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke: Inventory, 8 (Monograph). SDO14864.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 213550 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 31 2025 11:04AM