Monument record MDO6012 - Bowl barrow, one of the Badbury Rings Group, Shapwick

A Bronze Age bowl barrow recorded by the RCHME in 1975 as having a diameter of approximately 50 feet and a mound some 7 feet high, with a ditch 10 feet wide and 1.5 feet deep. An encircling annular bank was 2.5 feet. high and an outer ditch beyond this was 1 foot deep. Excavation has shown the outer bank and ditch to be post-Roman additions to the monument. The barrow is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs and lidar imagery and was digitially plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AI&M. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water.

Three round barrows W of Badbury Rings and flanking the NW side of the Roman Road (RR 4c) were once thought to be Roman <1> but this has now been disproved.

Consequent to excavation in July 1960 it was concluded that although no direct evidence for the date of the bank and ditch enclosing Barrow 'A' was obtained "some weight must attach to the flake of modern glass found beneath the bank. In fact it is reasonable to suggest that it (bank and ditch) is an 18th century 'improvement' which planted trees at 'Badbury Clump' enclosing them with a small bank and ditch". The barrow, and its two neighbours, are probably Bronze Age. <3>

'A' ST 95830294. Bowl barrow immediately NW of the Roman Road; diameter 50ft, height 7ft with a ditch 10ft wide and 1 1/2ft deep. The barrow is encircled by a bank 2 1/2ft high with an outer ditch 1 foot deep, but these have been shown by excavation to be post-Roman. <4>

The barrow is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs and lidar imagery <9-10> and was digitially plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AI&M. It comprises an internal mound 13m. An oval bank (28m by 18m ) is thought to be a post medieval 'improvement' (NRHE 209543).Traces of an original berm and partially surviving external ring ditch are visible on lidar <10> on the southern and eastern sides outside of the post medieval enclosure.

<1> Crawford, O G S and Keiller, A, 1928, Wessex from the Air, 58-61 Plan (Monograph). SDO12591.

<2> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 130 (Monograph). SDO132.

<3> Society of Antiquaries of London, 1965, The Antiquaries Journal 45, 41-7 (Serial). SDO16726.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 63 (Monograph). SDO129.

'Badbury Rings Group comprises nine barrows (47–55), immediately W. and S.W. of Badbury Rings (Plate 62); they lie on undulating downland between 250 ft. and 275 ft. above O.D. It was once thought that (45–47) were Roman (Wessex from the Air, 58–61, Pl. IV), but this has now been disproved (Ant. J., XLV (1965), 41–7).
(47) Bowl (95830294), immediately N.W. of the Roman road; diam. 50 ft., ht. 7 ft., with a ditch 10 ft. wide and 1½ ft. deep. The earthwork is encircled by a bank 2½ ft. high with an outer ditch 1 ft. deep, but these have been shown by excavation to be post-Roman.'

<5> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 scale map, 1978 (Map). SDO17396.

(ST 958029) Tumuli (NR)

<6> Grinsell, L V, 1982, Dorset Barrows Supplement, 49 (Monograph). SWX1703.

<7> Papworth, M, 1994, Shapwick Parish, Kingston Lacy Estate, Wessex Region, 52 (Unpublished document). SDO14228.

An oval barrow, visible as a prominent rise. The site is probably Bronze Age but if its oval plan is original the site may be Late Neolithic. The burial mound is 16.5m dia. north-east to south-west and 15.5m northwest to south-east, and it is 2.2m high. The outer ditch is 32m diam., 3.5m wide and 0.3m deep. The outer bank is 25m dia., 2.4m wide and 0.3m high. The outer ditch and bank are thought to be post medieval. Fowler (1965) located the original barrow ditch between the mound and the bank but only traces of this are visible on the ground. This site is the most southerly of a line of three lying immediately south-west of the Roman road from Dorchester to Old Sarum (112,047). One of a group of twelve barrows. Site shown on Woodwards map (1773)

<8> Papworth, M, 2010, Geophysical survey report, Three Barrows, Badbury Rings (Unpublished document). SDO12388.

<9> Alexander Kieller Collection, 14-JUL-1924, ALK 7415/257 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18098.

<10> Environment Agency, 16-NOV-2021, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO18034.

<11> National Record of the Historic Environment, 209543 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 24 2023 8:17AM