Monument record MDO7446 - Bowl Barrow at New Mills Heath, Corfe Castle

A group of four mounds, possibly representing Bronze Age round barrows, are located on New Mills Heath. Only one was accepted as a bowl barrow ('C') by RCHME during fieldwork for the Dorset Inventory. Located at SY 95718378, it is 45 feet in diameter and 4.5 feet high, with traces of a surrounding a ditch. A partial mound is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs of New Mills Heath, Corfe Castle. This feature is considered likely to be the remains of the Bronze Age round barrow 'C' described above.

Possible barrows adjoin the track from the Corfe-Wareham road to Scotland Farm on New Mills Heath. East of the track are two possible adjacent barrows at 'A'-SY 95768385 and 'B'-SY 95788384, and a probable barrow with traces of ditch impinging on the track at 'C' SY 95718378. Another possible barrow west of the track and on the north side of an old (?clay) pit is visible at 'D' SY 95638381. <1>

'C'-(25c) SY 95718378. Bowl barrow, with traces of ditch, 14 paces diameter and 4ft high. <2>

'C' SY 95718378. Bowl (?)barrow, possibly ditched, 45ft diameter and 4 1/2ft high, cut on west by road. <3>

A partial mound, approximately 17.7m in diameter, is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs of New Mills Heath, Corfe Castle <5>. This feature is located at SY 9571 8378 and is therefore considered likely to be the remains of the Bronze Age round barrow 'C' described above. This feature was digitally plotted during the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project.

Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document).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

Papworth, M D J, Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1983, Isle of Purbeck Survey (Index). SDO147.

'218C Bowl Barrow. Diam. 13.8m and Ht. 1.7m. Situated on heathland the barrow is grass and gorse covered. The mound is infested by rabbits and cut by a road on its W. side. No trace of the possibl ditch mentioned by the RCHM. OS SY98SE46. RAF/VAP/1821.4407. 7/7/C.'

<1> Farrar, R A H, 1954, Corfe Castle, New Mills Heath., p79 (Article in serial). SWX3184.

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1956, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1954, 79 (Serial). SDO54.

<2> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 103 (Monograph). SDO132.

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

<4> Papworth, M, 1992, Middlebere, Corfe Castle Estate, Dorset. Wessex Region, 16 (Unpublished document). SWX1394.

One of four mounds or possible bowl barrows lying on New Mills Heath. It has a diameter of 13.8m and is 1.7m high. Brown (1954) mentions a ditch traceable around this barrow but it was not discernible when the site was visited. The 1901 1” – 25” O.S. map shows a spread of spoil from the clay pit 112363 (fig 15) and it seems possible that the clay pit is the source of the mound material but the aerial photograph RAF CPE/UK/1821 4406 shows this as a convincing barrow with a central hollow indicating an antiquarian excavation. Visited 17/7/1992.

<5> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1821 4405-06 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13645.

<6> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 456854 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 23 2025 1:57PM