Monument record MDO7123 - Bowl barrow, one of the Roke Down Group, Bere Regis

A round barrow reported in 1970 as being a slight mound about nine inches high and around 55 feet in diameter. Crop marks visible on the northern side of the mound suggest an encircling ditch, situated some nine feet from the base of the mound. This monument has been interpreted as a probable bell barrow. The site is visible as a cropmark ring ditch on aerial photographs and was digitally recorded during the Dorset Upper Cern and Piddle AIM Project. Traces of an internal mound are visible as low earthworks on lidar imagery.

Three round barrows on Roke Down: 'B' - (94) - SY 82279684 Bell (?) barrow, 55ft diameter and 9 ins high with ditch visible as a cropmark around the northern half, 9ft from the base of the mound. <3>

'B'. SY 82269684, and 'C' - SY 82309673. These barrows were not inspected closely because of crops,but appear from a distance to be generally as described. Revised from R.C.H.M. measurements at 1:2500 on MSD. <4>

A rapid examination of air photography … Barrows B and C are also visible as ring ditches. (5)

Scheduled. A group of 3 barrows ('A' (SY 8208 9674), 'B' (SY 8226 9684), and 'C' (SY 8230 9673)). 2 are bell barrows ('A' and 'B') and te third is a bowl barrow ('C'). The 2 bell barrows each have a central mound composed of earth, flint and chalk and measure a maximum of 18 to 23 metres in diameter and 0.35 to 0.75 metres in height. Each mound is surrounded, firstly by a berm which has been obscured by ploughing, and then by a ditch, which has become gradually infilled over time. One of these barrows was partially excavated in the 19th century. The bowl barrow measures up to 26 metres in diameter and around 0.45 metres high. Aerial photographic evidence shows that it was also surrounded by a ditch at one time. This group forms part of a wider group of 11 barrows, which together form a round barrow cemetery on Roke Down. (6)

The site is visible as a cropmark ring ditch on aerial photographs (9) and was digitally recorded during the Dorset Upper Cern and Piddle AIM Project. Traces of an internal mound are visible as low earthworks on lidar imagery (10).

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

(Centred SY 822967) Tumuli (NR) (three shown)

<2> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 89 (Monograph). SDO132.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 437 (Monograph). SDO150.

'(94) Bell (?) (82279684) 214 yds. N.E. of (93). Diam. 55 ft., ht. 9 ins. Ditch visible as a crop-mark around N. half 9 ft. from base of mound.'

<4> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 15-MAY-81 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<5> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 4119 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17126.

<6> Miller, Andrew, 1993, RCHME: AP Primary Recording Project, 16-FEB-1993 (Unpublished document). SWX1708.

<7> Historic England, Scheduled Monument Notification, 09-Mar-01 (Scheduling record). SDO17468.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 455867 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<9> National Monuments Record, 11-JUL-1989, NMR 4527/26 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20776.

<10> Environment Agency, 15-DEC-2023, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO20691.

Record last edited

Jul 20 2024 6:46PM