Monument record MDO6415 - South Circle at Knowlton, Woodlands

A Neolithic henge monument, one of a group known as Knowlton Circles, now cut by the road between Cranborne and Wimborne Minster. It comprises a roughly-circular enclosure approximately 250 metres in diameter in the form of a bank and internal ditch, the circuit composed of a series of shorter lengths. The central part of the henge has been disturbed by the construction of a farmyard on the western side of the road. The henge is still partially extant as an earthwork though it has suffered from ploughing and parts are better visible as cropmarks. The enclosure is defined by a ditch and outer bank separated by a berm. The maximum diameter is around 250 metres. The cropmarks in particular suggest construction as a series of straight lengths. Geophysical survey and trial excavation by Bournemouth University in 1993-5 represents the only known archaeological intervention at the site. Geophysical survey on the southern side showed the ditch to be continuous at this point, and also recorded the presence of a possible medieval trackway aligned against the ditch. Geophysical survey over the northeast quadrant, at two points where cropmarks suggested possible entrances, also showed the ditch to be continuous. It is therefore suggested that any original entrance must lie to the west, where the site is obscured by the road or the farm buildings. A trench across the bank and ditch in the southeast quadrant demonstrated the extent of plough damage to the bank, which survived to a maximum height of 0.2 metres. Traces of a buried soil were found in places beneath the bank. On either side of the bank, and apparently marking its edges, was a flat based gulley 1.5 metres wide and 0.3 metres deep. The stratigraphical relationship is unclear but they seem to just pre-date the bank. The ditch was separated from the bank by a berm of 9.5 metres. The ditch was 5.5 metres deep, although only 4.5 metres was excavated, the remainder being augered. Within the fill, three stabilisation or slumping episodes were noted. Between the second and third, two slot trenches were present, one containing wattle work and the other posts. It is not clear if they extended around the whole of the henge ditch. The henge was mapped from aerial photographs by English Heritage's Knowlton Circles Project and digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

(SU 025100) South Circle; A large henge now cut by the Cranborne-Wimborne road, part of the monument west of the road has been occupied by farm buildings, the east and south levelled by ploughing. It is circular in plan with a maximum diameter of 750ft. Aerial photographs show it to have been constructed as a series of straight lengths linked by shorter curving lengths. It is best preserved on the north-west side where the bank is 45ft wide and 4ft high, separated by a berm 12ft across from the ditch. The ditch is 50ft wide and 5ft deep. No certain original entrance is known, Aerial photographs show a possible one on the south side, east of the modern
road. <3>

Knowlton South. SU 0245 1000. Large sub-circular enclosure, surviving as an earthwork and also known from cropmarks. The enclosure is defined by a ditch and outer bank, separated by a berm. The cropmark of the ditch appears rather narrow and on some photographs appears to show quite angular changes of direction. In the ENE sector of the enclosure, quite close to the ditch, are the cropmarks of at least 3 pit-like marks and a possible short curving feature visible as a faint parch mark (not necessarily archaeologically significant). <6>

Henge monument. Maximum diameter of about 250 metres, defined by a bank and internal ditch. On the east side, the bank is 20 metres wide and about 0.3 metres high. Partial excavation has shown the ditch to be 15 metres wide and up to 5.5 metres deep. Scheduling amended. <10>

The henge has been mapped from aerial photographs by EH's Knowlton Circles Project. <4, 7>

Published report of the aerial photography analysis from the Knowlton Circles project. <12>

Additional source, which contains a brief accessible overview of the earthworks at Knowlton for visitors. <11>

The Neolithic henge at New Barn Farm Knowlton is visible as cropmarks and earthworks on aerial photographs <2, 5, 8>. The visible monument on its eastern side appears to comprise a 16m wide outer bank and 3.5m wide inner ditch, with a probable inner bank around 13.5m wide, visible as cropmarks. On its western side a 37m wide west facing scarp survives, forming the northwestern side of the henge. This is tree-covered in 1970 <2> - the OS 1st Edition map shows a row of trees on the scarp's outer edge, possibly deliberate planting <1>. The southwest side of the henge has been damaged/destroyed by the insertion of the farm buildings and yards.

The earthworks were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1864, 1886, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch one (Map). SDO10239.

<2> John Boyden, 26-JUN-70, JRB290/109 (SU0210/008) (Aerial Photograph). SDO15698.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 113-115 (Monograph). SDO129.

'Monuments (19-22), Knowlton Circles.

These consist of four enclosures, three of normal henge form, which represent the remains of a ritual or ceremonial centre of the late Neolithic period (Plate 80). All but Monument (20) have been severely damaged by cultivation. Their importance as such a centre is emphasised by the concentration of round barrows in the vicinity (Antiquity, XIII (1939), 153-4: R. J. C. Atkinson and others, Excavations at Dorchester, Oxon., Vol. i(1951), 95, 102).

(19) South Circle (025100) is a large henge, now cut by the Cranborne-Wimborne road. On the W. of the road much of the area is occupied by farm buildings, and on the E. and S. it has been almost completely levelled by ploughing. The enclosure is roughly circular in plan and up to 750 ft. across overall, but it is clear, especially on air photographs, that it was constructed as a series of straight lengths linked by shorter curving lengths.

On the N. W. side, where the earthwork is best preserved, the bank is 45 ft. wide and up to 4 ft. high; it is separated by a berm up to 12 ft. across from the inner ditch, which is up to 50 ft. across and 5 ft. deep. No certain original entrance is known, but air photographs suggest that one lay on the S. side, just E. of the modern road. (Profile, p. 115)'

<4> National Monuments Record, 02-JUL-1976, NMR SU 0210/38/5 (JRB 3097/5) (Aerial Photograph). SDO19583.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 15-SEP-79, OS79121 V 324 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15756.

<6> Harding, A F, with G E Lee, 1987, Henge monuments and related sites of Great Britain: air photographic evidence and catalogue, 129-30, Site 052 (Monograph). SDO17363.

<7> National Monuments Record, 13-JUL-1995, NMR SU 0210/74 (NMR 15314/11) (Aerial Photograph). SDO19584.

<8> National Monuments Record, 13-JUL-95, NMR15324/016 (SU0210/079) (Aerial Photograph). SDO15699.

<9> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1996, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1995, 131-2 (Serial). SDO95.

Burrow, S and J Gale. Survey and Excavation at Knowlton Rings, Woodland Parish, Dorset 1993-5.

<10> DCMS, 2002, Scheduled Monument Notification EH Scheduling amendment, 05-JUL-2002 (Scheduling record). SDO18700.

<11> Carter, Katy (ed), 2004, Heritage Unlocked: Guide to free sites in Devon, Dorset and Somerset, 50-1 (Monograph). SDO18928.

<12> Stoertz, Cathy, 2005, Knowlton Circles Project, Dorset: report on the aerial photographic transcription and analysis (Monograph). SDO19585.

<13> Historic England, Historic England Archive, AF1339047 (Index). SDO14738.

Object Title: EH: Knowlton Circles, Dorset.

<14> Urmston, B, 2013, New Barn Farm, Knowlton, Dorset. Geophysical Survey Report. (Unpublished document). SDO14490.

<15> Kendall, M, 2014, New Barn Farm, Knowlton, Dorset. Archaeological Evaluation Report (Unpublished document). SDO14085.

<16> National Record of the Historic Environment, 621819 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 12 2024 10:48AM