Monument record MDO7297 - Pillow mounds north of Woolland Grove, Church Knowle

A group of six pillow mounds on Ridgeway Hill. Four mounds were identified on aerial photographs taken in 1946. The pillow mounds may be of medieval or later date.

Group of five oblong mounds. not barrows. <2>

These earthworks consist of six oblong mounds some of which have ditches around them.

'a' Measures 13.8m East-West, 6.0m North-South and has a height of 0.6m. A ditch on the East side only measures 2.5m wide and 0.3m deep. There are indications of a ditch on the North side only but the whole mound is heavily overgrown with brambles.

'b' measures 7.0m East-West, 14.5m North-South and has a height of 0.5m. A ditch on the East side is 2.8m wide and 0.4m deep and on the West side 2.2m wide and 0.2m deep. No ditches to the North or South sides. Heavily overgrown with brambles.

'c' Measures 8.0m East-West and 18.0m North-South and has a maximum height of 0.7m. Its ditch on the East side is common to 'd' and on
the West side it has a ditch 2.2m wide and 0.4m deep. It is sightly mutilated on top.

'd' Measures 12.0m East-West, 10.5m North-South and has a maximum height of 1.0m. It has a common ditch with 'e' on the East and elsewhere, except on the south side, has a ditch 1.8m wide and 0.6m deep. A central ditch North-south through the mound is 1.8m wide and 0.3m deep.

'e' measures 7.5m East-West, 15.0m North-south and is 0.5m high. It has a ditch on the East 2.2m wide and 0.3m deep.

'f' measures 12.5m East-West and 7.0m North-South. It has a maximum height of 0.6m and has a ditch 2.0m wide and 0.1m deep on the East
and West sides only.

c, d, e & f are turf covered.

These mounds lie almost at the foot of the Northern slopes of a hill and on a slight terrace. Their corners are angular and give an impression of "no great antiquity". They fall into no known category of antiquity and must remain as 'U' Earthworks. There were no surface finds. <3>

SY 929820. Six pillow mounds on Ridgeway Hill, arranged in a row on a south-facing slope, are of unknown purpose. Their situation alongside a terraced track leading to Barnston, SY 98 SW 56 and just beyond the limit of the Barnston open fields, suggests they are medieval.

The mounds are parallel sided with squared ends, tops of uniform height, a firm appearance and clear traces of ditches. Lengths range from 40 feet to 60 feet and breadths from 25 feet to 30 feet. The greater width of 'd' (see plan) may be due to soil-slip. Ditches are up to 10 feet wide by 1 1/2 feet deep, and heights from ditch bottoms to mound tops are about 2 3/4 feet. The mounds are well-preserved, but 'c' and 'd' have been dug into from the top. <4>

SY 929819. Pillow mounds 150 yards north of Wolland Grove. Scheduled. <5>

Three of the pillow mounds (a,b & c) are now completely covered by a dense blanket of bramble, gorse and scrub and could not be inspected. However, there is no reason to doubt they still survive as surveyed by RCHM in 1970. Mound 'd' has at some time been trenched and 'e' and 'f' are more or less intact although terracettes are gradually blurring their
edges. The six mounds are clearly visible on RAF APs dated 1946. Published 1:2500 survey amended. <7>

A group of six pillow mounds on Ridgeway Hill. Four mounds were identified on aerial photographs taken in 1946. The pillow mounds may be of medieval or later date. Four mounds were identified on aerial photographs taken in 1946. (2). They were digitally plotted during the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1929 (Map). SWX1540.

(Centred SY 92938199) Earthworks (NR)

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

<3> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F1 JR 17-JUL-52 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 1, 48 (Monograph). SDO148.

‘(29) PILLOW MOUNDS, six (929820), lie in rough pasture ¾ m. W.N.W. of St. Peter's church and 125 yds. S.W. of Bare Cross (plan p. 509). The mounds (a–f) are arranged in a row on a south-facing slope of 16°. Their purpose is unknown: their slope makes it unlikely that they ever supported structures. Hutchins recorded the mounds, with a plan but no comment, in 1773 (1st ed., I, 605).
The arrangement of the mounds in a rough line rising from S.W. to N.E. suggests that they were built alongside the terraced track which runs immediately above them and may have led only to Barnston or continued below the hill towards Whiteway as air photographs hint. Either objective would be compatible with a mediaeval date. The analogy with the similar group near a mediaeval settlement at Eastington (see Worth Matravers, 32) tends to confirm this. Enough remains of strip lynchets farmed from Barnston to show that these mounds lay just beyond the limits of the open fields.
All the mounds have approximately parallel sides, squared ends, tops of constant height, a firm appearance (except for recent disturbance) and clear traces of ditches. Three lie approximately N. to S. and three E. to W. Lengths range from 40 ft. to 60 ft. and breadths from 25 ft. to 30 ft. The greater width of (d), 33½ ft., may be due to soil slip. Ditches are up to 10 ft. wide and 1½ ft. deep. Heights from ditch bottoms to mound tops are about 2¾ ft. The mounds are well-preserved, but (c) and (d) have been dug into from the top. (R.A.F. V.A.P. CPE/UK 1821: 2413–5.)’

<5> Department of the Environment, 1978, Department of the Environment (IAM) Ancient Monuments of England (Vol 2), 73 (Monograph). SWX1687.

<6> Papworth, M D J, Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1983, Isle of Purbeck Survey, IOP 208 (Index). SDO147.

‘The earthworks are clear in rough grassland. 7/7/B.’

<7> Fletcher, Martin, Field investigator's comments MJF, F2 MJF 06-MAY-86 (Unpublished document). SDO17630.

<8> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<9> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1821 2413-14 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13483.

<10> National Record of the Historic Environment, 456898 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 20 2025 2:18PM