Monument record MDO6148 - The Shapwick Barrow, Sturminster Marshall

A Bronze Age bowl barrow on the flood plain of the River Stour, which survives as a substantial earthwork. In 1975 this monument was recorded as around 90 feet in diameter with a mound 6 feet high, surrounded by a ditch. There is a depression in the top, the result of part excavation carried out in 1838 by the Reverend Woolls, who found a primary cremation burial with an amber bead and possibly some secondary burials. The barrow is visible as earthworks on lidar imagery and was digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour Catchment AI&M Project. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water.

The Shapwick Barrow, probably a bowl barrow, is situated on a low-lying and seasonally flooded site, and has a diameter of 90 ft and a height of 6 ft. It was opened in 1838 by Woolls, who found a probably primary cremation in other burnt matter with 'a ruby-coloured barrel-shaped glass bead', presumably amber. Flints
lay above, and seven more lay in a circle just beneath the surface. There were possibly some secondary interments. <3>

A bowl barrow 550m north east of Field Dairy Farm, on the flood plain of the River Stour 110m south of the south bank of the river. The barrow has a mound which is 30m in diameter and a maximum of 1.8m high. The top of the mound is flattened and there is a clear depression c.2m wide running from the south eastern side of the mound to its centre. The eastern side of the mound is also very uneven and both areas of disturbance probably resulted from the part excavation carried out in 1838 by Revd Woolls. These located a primary cremation and other burnt material together with an amber bead and possibly some secondary interments. Surrounding the mound is a quarry ditch from which material was excavated during its construction. This has become infilled over the years but survives as a buried feature 3m wide.

The barrow is visible as earthworks on lidar imagery and was digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour Catchment AI&M Project <5>.

<1> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 132 (Monograph). SDO132.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 453 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘(46) The Shapwick Barrow, bowl (?) (ST 90 SW ; 93360164), on low-lying and seasonally flooded site 130 yds. S.E. of S. bank of River Stour and 200 yds. N.W. of Badbury Rings-Dorchester Roman road. Diam. 90 ft,, ht. 6 ft. Opened in 1838 by Woolls who found a probably primary cremation in other burnt matter with 'a ruby-coloured barrel-shaped glass bead', presumably amber. Flints lay above, and seven more lay in a circle just beneath the surface. There were possibly some secondary intements (The Barrow Diggers (1839), 102-5).’

<3> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 scale map, 1978 (Map). SDO17396.

(ST 93350163) Tumulus (NR)

<4> Lovell J, 1997, Southern Electric 11Kv Cable Replacement, Sturminster Marshall, Dorset: Archaeological Watching Brief (Unpublished document). SDO12425.

<5> Environment Agency, 16-NOV-2021, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO18034.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 209628 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 11 2024 4:06PM