Monument record MDO7416 - Bronze Age bowl barrow, Corfe Common, Corfe Castle

A circular mound is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs of Corfe Common. It is considered likely to be the remains of a Bronze Age round barrow. It is one on a group of several round barrows located dispersed across the common.

A plain tripartite urn in the British Museum collection has been identified as coming from one of these barrows or from the adjacent barrow groups. Brit Mus Acc No. 1892.9-1.238 <1>

'A'- SY 96138090. Bowl barrow, possibly ditched, 68ft diameter and 6 1/2ft high. <2>

SY 962809. Group of round barrows on Corfe Common. Scheduled. <4>

These barrows. 'A': SY 96128090 'B': SY 96318089 are in good condition from Auth 2, on heathland, 50m OD. No change. Surveyed at 1:2500. <5>

SY96138090 18m by 21m across and a maximum of 2.1m high, the mound is spread with a very slight dip in the top some 0.2m deep. Traces of a ditch have been exaggerated by cross ridge routes. <6>

A circular mound, approximately 21.6m in diameter and surrounded by a 1.5m wide outer ditch, is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs of Corfe Common, Corfe Castle <7-8>. It is considered likely to be the remains of a Bronze Age round barrow. It is one on a group of several round barrows located dispersed across the common (MDO7412-19 & MDO7540). This feature was digitally plotted during the Wild Purbeck mapping project.

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1960, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1959, 118 (Serial). SDO59.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

('A'-SY 96138090, 'B'-SY 96328089) Tumulus (NR)

<3> 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.

‘Corfe Common Group (SY 98 SE; Fig. p. 97). Eight barrows straggle along the spine of a ridge about 150 ft. above O.D. All but (191) are bracken-covered. LVG 10a-c, between (192) and (193), are unidentifiable. … (190) Bowl, possibly ditched (96138090), 210 yds. E.S.E. of (189). Diam. 68 ft., ht. 6½ ft..’

<4> Department of the Environment, 1978, Department of the Environment (IAM) Ancient Monuments of England (Vol 2), 62 (Monograph). SWX1687.

<5> Wardale, C F, Various, Field Investigators Comments CFW, F1 CFW 10-SEP-85 (Unpublished document). SWX2704.

<6> Fletcher, Martin, Field investigator's comments MJF, 20-DEC-2003 (Unpublished document). SDO17630.

<7> Royal Air Force, 18-FEB-1970, RAF 58/0254 0022 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13680.

<8> Pan Government Agreement, 2008, PGA (Aerial Photograph). SDO13137.

<9> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<10> Historic England, Historic England Archive, AF00137 (Index). SDO14738.

Corfe Common, Dorset. A large scale archaeological survey and investigation of Corfe Common was commissioned by the National Trust to provide detailed information to aid future management and conservation decisions. The common is a unique landscape, an SSSI entirely enclosed by cultivated land, which incorporates an impressive variety of relatively undisturbed archaeological features. The analytical investigation was undertaken by staff from the English Heritage Exeter Office in the Spring of 2003.Background AutoCAD files stored on CD03001: 'Plan.dwg' and '1to10000plan.dwg'.

<11> National Record of the Historic Environment, 456802 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 11 2024 3:59PM