Monument record MDO6611 - Bowl barrow, one of the Ridge Hill Group, Weymouth

Barrows on Ridgeway Hill : 'B' Bowl (65368657) 30 yds. E.S.E. of 'A'. Diam. 70 ft., ht. 3 ft. Contained a cremation beneath inverted urn in an ash-filled pit,a and secondary cremation. <1> <3>

'B' SY 65338658 Bowl barrow, diameter approximately 30.0m, height 1.1m. All the barrows are in arable and none of them has a visible ditch. Re-surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD.

The barrow depicted on OS 25" at SY 65388657 is not visible, and is described by RCHM. It is not clear whether a barrow ever existed here. <4>

<1> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 140-141 (Monograph). SDO132.

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

(Centred at SY 65398657) Tumuli (NR)

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 467 (Monograph). SDO150.

'(R.7) RIDGE HILL GROUP (SY 68 NW, NE). Thirty-eight barrows including one bell, four probable bells, one very large bell-disc barrow and one pond barrow, many of them having survived intact in an area extensively covered with 'Celtic' fields (see Ancient Field Group (6), and Fig. p. 626). Ridge Hill continues the Ridgeway to the E. for the next 1¾ miles to the great Ridgeway bell-disc barrow (67). The Ridgeway here is domed on top, and the barrows lie in an irregular line, mostly on the highest ground. The group includes Portesham (41–2), Weymouth (396–406) and Bincombe (13–21). Weymouth (396–404) have all been heavily ploughed and six of them were opened by E. Cunnington between 1884 and 1888, including (403), his 'Ridgeway 7'. … (398) Bowl (65368657) 30 yds. E.S.E. of (397). Diam. 70 ft., ht. 3 ft. Contained a cremation beneath inverted urn in an ash-filled pit, and a secondary cremation.'

<4> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 16-MAY-80 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<5> Papworth, M, 1983, The South Dorset Ridgeway Project: condition and management survey, SDR 385 (Index). SDO12304.

Diameter 30.0m, ht. 1.1m. Low rise, reduced and spread by ploughing. In field of kale. A N-S fence crosses the eastern perimeter of the barrow. 1/3/C

<6> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South Dorset Ridgeway Barrow Survey 2010 (Unpublished document). SDO12407.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 452036 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 11 2024 12:32PM