Monument record MDO6787 - Bell barrow, Barrow Hill Group, Poole

Bell barrow that survives as an earthwork about 22m in diameter and 2.1m high, with a ditch about 3.5m wide. It may be one of the barrows excavated by J H Austen in 1847 containing a primary urned cremation and at least five intrusive inhumations burials. The feature is clearly visible on aerial photographs and on current Lidar imagery and was digitally plotted from these sources by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

One of a group of round barrows on Barrow Hill. Barrow 'F' - SY 99569768 Probable bell barrow with mound 39 feet in diameter and 6 feet high and narrow sloping berm 6 feet wide. The well preserved ditch is 9 feet wide and 1foot deep. One of the barrows 'E' (HOB uid 1457309 - SY 99 NE 60) or Barrow 'F' was opened by J H Austen in 1847. A primary cremation was found in the centre. At least five (intrusive) inhumations were also found. <2>

Barrow 'F' - Bowl barrow, 16 metres diameter and 2.2 metres high with a surrounding ditch which averages 2.5 metres wide and 0.2 metres deep. Heavily overgrown with furze and bracken. <3>

SY 99569768 ; Poole 3b, a bell barrow, the mound has a diameter of 39 feet and height of 6 feet. The berm is 6 feet in width, the ditch survives as an earthwork 9 feet wide and 1 foot deep. <4>

Barrow 'F' - (401) - SY 99569768. Bell barrow, about 40 feet diameter and 7 ½ feet high with berm about 5 feet wide and ditch 9 feet wide and 1foot deep. Excavation information is the same as <2>. <5>

Barrow 'F'. SY 99569768. Barrow, diameter 22 metres including a ditch 3.5 metres wide and 0.4 metres deep, visible on all except the north-east side; height 2.1 metres. The barrow is under gorse and bramble and has been mutilated sufficiently for it to be now impossible to determine whether it is a bowl or bell barrow. Re-surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. <7>

A bell barrow on Barrow Hill , part of a barrow cemetery of four bell barrows and two bowl barrows situated 150 metres to the southwest of Brookvale Farm. The barrow is one of two barrows situated to the northwest of the southern group of four barrows, and survives as an earthwork. <8>

No dating evidence was found with the intrusive inhumations, however, given their location an early Medieval date is a possibility. <9>

The feature is clearly visible on aerial photographs and on current Lidar imagery <10-11>. The central mound is approximately 13.7m in diameter, the outer ditch 1.6m wide. The features was digitally plotted from these sources by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1902 (Map). SWX1540.

(Centred SY 996975) Tumuli (NR) (twice)

<2> Grinsell, L V, 1935-54, Dorset Barrows 1935-54 Manuscript (Unpublished document). SWX1556.

<3> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 17-NOV-1955 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<4> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 164 (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, 449 (Monograph). SDO150.

'BARROW HILL GROUP (SY 99 SE). Six barrows, including four bells, on flat-topped ridge above 200 ft. contour. (396-9) form a short S.W.-N.E. alignment. All but (399) have probably been excavated. Three barrows on 'Merley Heath' were excavated by Austen in 1847: two of (396-8) contained unaccompanied cremations beneath a layer of flints; and either (400) or (401) contained a primary cremation in an upright Middle or Late Bronze Age urn, and at least five intrusive inhumations on top of mound.
(401) Bell (99569768).30 yds. N.W. of (400). Diam. about 40 ft., ht. 7.5 ft., with berm about 5 ft. wide and ditch 9 ft. wide and 1 ft. deep.'

<6> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<7> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F2 JGB 24-NOV-1980 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<8> Historic England, Scheduled Monument Notification (Scheduling record). SDO17468.

<9> Cherryson, A K, 2006, Gazetteer of Early Medieval Sites, 34 (Unpublished document). SDO17464.

<10> Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 RP 3198-9 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16170.

<11> Environment Agency, xxx-xxx-2015, Geomatics Lidar DSM 50cm (Aerial Photograph). SDO16012.

<12> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1457310 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 7 2022 12:23PM