Monument record MDO7210 - Disc barrow, one of the Bloxworth Down Group, Bloxworth

A disc or bell-disc barrow with berm, ditch and outer bank encircling the central mound, and around 160 feet in overall diameter. The mound had been recorded as about 4 feet high but by 1970 it was described as visible only as a slight rise. Around 1854 his monument was excavated by Shipp, who found a central cremation burial with grave goods including bone tweezers and amber beads, and four later burials in the upper parts of the mound. The site of this round barrow is visible as a low earthworks on lidar imagery and cropmarks on aerial photographs. It comprises a ring ditch 39m across traces of an internal mound and was digitally recorded during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM.

'E' is a disc-barrow with a mound, 48 feet in diameter and 2 1/2 feet high. The berm is 33 feet wide and the ditch and outer bank each 12 feet wide. Excavation revealed a primary cremation and eight bi-conical amber beads, six or seven segmented faience beads and bone tweezers beneath a collared urn. Intrusive burials of man, woman and two children at least three of which were crouched were near the top. Finds in the British Museum. (Grinsell 1935-54 Manuscript)

Sitings as above except 'H' : SY 87679628; 'K' : SY 87669620 ; 'L' : SY 87709619; 'G' : SY 87649628; 'F' : SY 87639629. A group of twelve barrows comprising eight definite bowl barrows - 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'H', 'J', 'K', and 'L'; three probable bowl barrows - 'F', 'G' and 'M'; a disc-barrow - 'E'. The group is visible on air-photographs (RAF/CPE/UK/1974 3344-5). 'F', 'H' and 'M' are ploughed out; the bank and ditch of 'E' is only partly visible. A 25" survey has been made. (Swatridge 1954)

Save for 'K' and 'L', the majority of this group is currently inaccessible.

'E'. Not visible, disc form clear on air photographs (OS/80/021/218-9), with possible excavation mark in the central mound.

Barrows, other than 'A', 'B' and 'C' which are clearly extant, have been retained on the M.S.D. pending future investigation. (Attrill 1981)

The site of this round barrow is visible as a low earthworks on lidar imagery (Environment Agency 2021) and cropmarks on aerial photographs (NMR 27312/01; NMR 24629/48). It comprises a ring ditch 39m across traces of an internal mound and was digitally recorded during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM.

Swatridge, G C, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigator's Comments GCS, 1954-11-09 (Unpublished document). SWX1169.

Attrill, N J, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigator's Comments NJA, 1981-05-27 (Unpublished document). SDO14743.

Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1902 (Map). SWX1540.

['A' : SY 87679623; 'B': SY 87699621; 'C' : SY 87729623; 'D' : SY 87689625; 'E' : SY 87709628.] TUMULI [OE]

Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

('A': SY 87679623; 'B': SY 87699621; 'C': SY 87729623; 'D': SY 87689625; 'E'; SY 87709628; 'G': SY 87659628; 'J': SY 87709623; 'K': SY 87669619; 'L': SY 87699619) Tumuli (NR)

National Monuments Record, 03-OCT-2011, NMR 27312/01 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19894.

National Monuments Record, 06-JUN-2007, NMR 24629/48 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19895.

Royal Air Force, 11-APR-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 3344-5 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19635.

Environment Agency, 16-NOV-2021, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO18034.

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

<1> John Hutchins, edited by Gough and Cuming, 1774, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. 1st edition. Volume 1, 102 4 (Monograph). SWX2949.

<2> Proceedings of the Archaeological Institute, 93 1849 (Serial). SDO19703.

<2> Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia (Article in serial). SDO20195.

<3> Society of Antiquaries of London, 1871, Archaeologia 43, 495 (Serial). SDO17248.

<4> Warne, C, 1888, Pamphlets and notices, 14 (Monograph). SDO17114.

<6> Abercromby, J, 1912, A Study of the Bronze Age Pottery of Great Britain and Ireland, 65 2 (Monograph). SDO10121.

<7> Royal Air Force, 05-MAR-1945, RAF/106G/LA/163 RP 4084 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19896.

<10> Society of Antiquaries of London, 1935, Archaeologia 85, 217 (Serial). SDO19666.

<12> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 94 (Monograph). SDO132.

<14> Clay, Dr, Annotated Record Map 6" (Dorset County Museum), 1963 (Map). SDO18027.

<15> Ordnance Survey, 18-APR-1980, OS 80/021 218-9 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19641.

<17> National Monuments Record, 06-JUN-2007, NMR 24629/48 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19895.

<18> DCMS, 1998, Scheduled Monument Notification 1998 (Scheduling record). SWX1137.

<20> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 440 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘Bloxworth Down Group (SY 89 NE). Fifteen barrows, including one disc or bell-disc, and comprising all the barrows in the parish, lie on a N. slope at the W. end of a chalk ridge between 170 ft. and 236 ft. above O.D.; (29) is on the highest point in the parish, and ten others cluster N. and E. of it. … Two have been destroyed and all but (29) and (30) are badly damaged by ploughing, as are adjacent 'Celtic' fields (Group 33). (39–40) have been excavated. … (39) Disc or bell-disc (87709629) lying immediately E. of (38) and 50 yds. N.N.E. of (35). Mound formerly about 30 ft. in diam. and 4 ft. high, with berm, ditch and outer bank making total diam. 160 ft. (V.A.P. CPE/UK 1934: 4127); now only visible as slight rise. In c. 1854 Shipp found in a cist a primary cremation under an inverted collared urn also containing bone tweezers, eight amber beads and six or eight segmented faience beads, all now in B.M. (Wessex interment no. 5). In top of mound four inhumations, a woman, two children and a man, lay E.-W. (Hutchins I, 184; Abercromby II, 12 and fig. 49; Archaeologia LXXXV (1936), 235).’

<22> National Record of the Historic Environment (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 14 2025 2:00PM