Monument record MDO7427 - Bowl barrow, one of the Ailwood Down Group, Corfe Castle

<1> 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.

‘Seventeen bowl barrows and a long barrow on summit and South shoulder of part of Purbeck Hills, here over 600 ft above O.D. Ten form an irregular W.N.W – E.S.E line only 250 yards long on the summit while the rest including the long barrow, lie on slightly lower ground immediately to the South. Only the two highest barrows have continuous ditches. Some others have quarry pits, probably original. All are under turf. One, unidentified, but adjacent contained a cremation.’

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Records, SY98SE 5k (Index). SDO131.

<3> Papworth, M D J, Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1983, Isle of Purbeck Survey, IOP 9 (Index). SDO147.

‘Probable bowl barrow. Diam.9.1m and Ht.0.6m. Situated on heathland, gorse covered and uneven on top. A track passes N. of the mound. OS SY98SE5. RAF/VAP/1821:2403. 1/2/C.’

<4> Papworth, M, 1994, Eastington, Acton, Westwood, Wilkswood, New Barn, Corfe Castle Estate, Wessex Region, 40 (Unpublished document). SWX1388.

A probable bowl barrow part of a group of seventeen round barrows and a long barrow. It is visible as a low rise 10m dia. and 0.6m high with no visible ditch. Nine barrows are shown on Woodwards map (1775). This is the most westerly of the group lying on the crest of the chalk ridge. A cremation burial has been recorded from this group (Miles 1826) but this is the only documentary evidence of excavation in any part of the group. This land has been downland since at least 1585 (Treswell) and appears never to have been ploughed.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 456762 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 25 2024 4:03PM