Monument record MDO5957 - Bowl barrow on Blagdon Hill, Pentridge

A round barrow of a type known as a bowl barrow. One of a pair located side by side, just south of Bokerley Dyke and immediately adjacent to Grim's Ditch. It was described by RCHME as a well-preserved mound 58 feet in diameter and 6 feet high, surrounded by a ditch 12 feet wide and 1.5 feet deep. Both of the barrows had been dug into in the past. It seems quite likely that they are to be identified with two barrows excavated by Hoare and Cunnington in the early 19th century. This identification is by no means certain, but this pair seem the most plausible candidates among the known barrows. If the identification is correct, this barrow, the larger of the pair, proved to contain "two skeletons, and several instruments of iron, viz. a lance-head, two knives, and an article of bone". These would appear to represent interments of Saxon date, probably dating from the late 5th to early 8th century. They may be the primary interments, but it is more likely that they represent secondary, intrusive interments, in an earlier, Bronze Age barrow.

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

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

<3> Meaney, A L, 1964, A Gazetteer of Early Anglo-Saxon burial sites, 81 (Bibliographic reference). SWX4310.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 57 (Monograph). SDO129.

‘Two barrows (Plate 56) lie close together on Blagdon Hill, just S. of Bokerley Dyke (16) and adjacent to Grim’s Ditch (17). Both have been dug into in the past. (33) Bowl (05371811), well preserved; diam. 58 ft., ht. 6 ft.; ditch 12 ft. wide and 1½ ft. deep.’

<5> Colt Hoare, Sir Richard, 1975, The ancient history of Wiltshire, 234-5 (Monograph). SDO18077.

<6> Bowen, H C, 1990, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke, 35-8 (Monograph). SWX800.

<7> Historic England, Scheduled Monument Notification, 07/08/1996 (Scheduling record). SDO17468.

<8> Cherryson, A K, 2006, Gazetteer of Early Medieval Sites, 33 (Unpublished document). SDO17464.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 213422 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 25 2024 11:43AM