Monument record MDO6355 - Disc Barrow, Oakley Down Group, Wimborne St Giles

Disc Barrow forming part of the Oakley Down Group. The monument is now under woodland and cut on its north west arc by the Ackling Dyke Roman road. In 1975 the RCHM(E) reported that the monument was 35 feet diameter with a mound surviving to a height of less than one foot. The berm is 50 feet across; the ditch 15 feet wide and less than one foot deep. The outer bank is of similar dimensions. A skeleton was excavated from the barrow in the early 19th century.

A disc barrow, part of the Oakley Down barrow group (SU 01 NW 19). It was described by RCHME as a mound 35 feet in diameter and less than 1 foot high, surrounded by a berm 50 feet across and a ditch 15 feet wide and less than 1 foot deep. Outside the ditch was a bank of "similar dimensions". The barrow is cut on the northwest side by the Roman road. The mound was dug into by Cunnington and Hoare in the early 19th century (their barrow 28). Hoare's description is as follows: "Immediately adjoining the left, or east side of the Roman road [Ackling Dyke], is a Druid barrow, on whose vallum and ditch the road has trespassed. It contained the deposit of a skeleton".

<1> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 170 (Monograph). SDO132.

<2> Colt Hoare, Sir Richard, 1975, The ancient history of Wiltshire, 243 (Monograph). SDO18077.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 103 (Monograph). SDO129.

‘(106) Disc (01931701), (Hoare No. 28), obscured by undergrowth and trees in Salisbury Plantation, is cut on the N.W. by the Roman road. A skeleton was found. The mound is 35 ft. across and under 1 ft. high; the berm is 50 ft. across; the ditch is 15 ft. wide and under 1 ft. deep; the outer bank is of similar dimensions.’

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1312394 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 7 2024 7:14PM