Monument record MDO6755 - Possible disc barrow, Canford Heath, Poole

Round barrow, part of the Canford Heath Barrow Group. It was was fully excavated in 1975 and re-interpreted as being a variant of the 'Dorset' type of disc barrows. The excavation revealed a central pit containing no human remains below a small earthen mound, with a low bank and external ditch surviving around the northern part of the mound. The barrow is visible on 1940s aerial photographs and was digitally plotted from these sources by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

Bowl barrow. Diameter 54ft. Height 3ft. Diameter of central mound 32ft., this is surrounded by a low bank or terrace and a ditch, diameter of ditch 56ft - 60ft. (2-3)

A heather covered mound situated at the crest of a steep south and south-east slope. The 'central' mound is 10.0m. in diameter, but to the north and east there is a cresentic berm which has a maximum width of 6.0m. on the north-east. Outside this there are vague unsurveyable traces of a ditch on the north and east. The berm has a maximum height of 0.6m., and the mound 0.4m. Thus the barrow as a whole is 1.0m. high.

The classification of bowl barrow is accepted, but while the berm effect could be a modern mutilation, it is possible that this was once a bell barrow, the berm on the south and west having fallen away as natural slip. <3>

SZ 01889586. Possible bell barrow, 30 feet in diameter, 3 feet high with a berm 7 feet wide and about 2 feet above
ground level, and a ditch about 10 feet wide.

Barrow was fully excavated by Poole Museum's Archaeological Unit in August-September 1975 in advance of adjacent road building. The excavation revealed a central pit containing no human remains with an earthen mound about 8.5 m diameter and 0.6 m high, built from clods of earth. There was a low bank and external ditch surviving around the northern part of the mound. A concentration of worked flint was found on the edge of the mound and bank. Soil and pollen analysis determined the barrow was built in a heathland environment. A radiocarbon date of 1110 +/- 110 bc was obtained. The barrow form was re-interpreted as being a variant of the 'Dorset' type of disc barrows.

A `Dorset' type of disc-barrow was excavated in response to development pressure. Charcoal from a sealed pit gave a C14 date of 1110 I 110 bc (HAR 2278), but no primary or secondary inhumations were found. Discussion on the cultural context of the `Dorset' disc-barrow type. <7>

This barrow was destroyed when a wide, deep cutting for a yet-to-be-built road was made. <8>

The barrow is visible on 1940s aerial photographs <9> and was digitally plotted from these sources by the Dorset Stour NMP project. The feature is indistinct but appears to comprise a low, slightly elliptical 9m long by 6.4m wide mound, and a low crescentic bank around 14m long on its northeast side. The site is under modern road development and the barrow is no longer visible.

<1> Wallace, W G, 1919-23, Bournemouth Natural Science Society 6" map and private notes (Article in serial). SDO17433.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1938 (Map). SWX1540.

(SZ 01889585) Tumulus (NR)

<3> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 15-NOV-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<4> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows (Monograph). SDO132.

<5> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 448 (Monograph). SDO150.

'(374) Bell (?) (SZ 09 NW; 01889586) on S. edge of spur, above, 200 ft., jutting D. from plateau. Diam. 30 ft., ht. 3 ft., with berm 7 ft. wide about 2 ft. above ground level, and ditch about 10 ft. wide.'

<6> Shackley, M, 1981, Environmental Archaeology, 31-33 (Monograph). SDO17143.

<7> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1982, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1980, 33-42 (Serial). SDO80.

<8> Wardale, C F, Various, Field Investigators Comments CFW, F2 CFW 09-JAN-87 (Unpublished document). SWX2704.

<9> Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 RS 4201-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16056.

<10> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<11> National Record of the Historic Environment, 458014 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 4 2023 12:20PM