Monument record MDO7410 - Afflington Barrow, Corfe Castle

One of two mounds to the north of Coombe Bottom - the other being MDO7533. This barrow is 19m across and was visible as an earthwork on lidar imagery.

SY96877880. Afflington Barrow, a turf-covered bowl barrow, 58ft diameter and 6ft high on the east spur above Coombe Bottom. Excavation by J. H. Austen in 1855 revealed a possible primary cremation, 12ft east of centre. A shale ring and widespread signs of burning lay beneath the mound in which were crouched inhumations lying with heads to the south west in two parallel rows of three and four graves. Five graves were stonelined, some with cover stones and one with a bronze finger-ring (in Dorset County Museum) in the filling, but the two on the east each held a double burial, in one case an adult and child covered by a shale slab.

A six inch stony capping to the mound contained a group of `apparently Roman' sherds with some bronze belt or strap fittings: of these a flat stud, hook , and slider are in Dorset County Museum. <1> <2> <4>

SY 968788. Round barrow 400 yards south of Afflington Barn. Scheduled. <5>

As described. Pub. 1:2500 survey revised. <6>

One of two mounds to the north of Coombe Bottom. This barrow is 19m across and was visible as an earthwork on lidar imagery <8>. The barrow was digitally plotted during the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project.

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1884, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 25 (Serial). SDO4.

<2> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1956, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1955, 149-150 (Serial). SDO55.

‘There is also a small hand-cut shale ring from the floor of another of Austen’s barrows, the Afflington Barrow (96857880), a bronze penannular ring from one of a number of intrusive (probably Romano-British) inhumation burials, mostly in stone-lined graves, found in the same barrow, and two bronze strap-fittings(?) and an ornamental stud, from its upper part.’

<3> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 96867880) Tumulus (NR)

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 443 (Monograph). SDO150.

<5> Department of the Environment, 1978, Department of the Environment (IAM) Ancient Monuments of England (Vol 2), 62 (Monograph). SWX1687.

<6> Wardale, C F, Various, Field Investigators Comments CFW, F2 CFW 16-APR-86 (Unpublished document). SWX2704.

<7> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<8> Channel Coastal Observatory, 25-FEB-2009, Lidar (Aerial Photograph). SDO12879.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 456391 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 12 2024 5:35PM