Monument record MDO7846 - Bell barrow on Old Knowle, Moreton

A bell barrow, one of three barrows on a prominent natural knoll. In 1970 this monument was recorded as around 90 feet in diameter with a mound 11 feet high, surrounded by a flat area or berm about 7 feet wide. A hollow in the top of the mound may be the result of antiquarian investigation or small-scale quarrying. This barrow is likely to have had a ditch, but this is obscured by a later tree-clump enclosure which now encircles it.

A bell barrow, one of three barrows on a prominent natural knoll. In 1970 this monument was recorded as around 90 feet in diameter with a mound 11 feet high, surrounded by a flat area or berm about 7 feet wide. A hollow in the top of the mound may be the result of antiquarian investigation or small-scale quarrying. This barrow is likely to have had a ditch, but this is obscured by a later tree-clump enclosure which now encircles it. <3>

`A' SY 79888777. Bell barrow of overall diameter 46.0m, height 4.8m maximum above ditch. Maximum width of berm 3.0m, but average 2.0 - 2.5m. Tree-clump enclosure bank and ditch 6.5m wide
overall; bank 1.0m high and ditch 0.5m deep. Mound damaged on W side. Trees now removed. Very prominently sited on knoll-top. Published Surveys (1:2500) revised on MSD. <4>

The Bronze Age barrow is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs and lidar imagery <6-7>. The barrow is sub-circular and surrounded by a narrow ditch. It measures 33 m in diameter. A depression is visible in the top of the mound, probably the result of a past excavation. This site was digitally plotted as part of the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project.

A bell barrow and two bowl barrows situated on a natural hill known as Old Knowle. The bell barrow is situated on the western side of the group. It has a central mound composed of sand, earth and turf, with maximum dimensions of 25 metres in diameter and approximately 3 metres in height. The mound has a hollow 6 metres by 7 metres on the top, which may indicate antiquarian excavation. The mound is surrounded by a berm and a ditch from which material was quarried for the construction of the mound. The ditch is visible as a depression 7 metres wide, although it is partly overlain by a later bank which may represent a tree clump enclosure. The two bowl barrows are situated to the east of the bell barrow and are aligned north west by south east. The north western bowl barrow has a mound with maximum dimensions of 16 metres in diameter and approximately 2 metres in height. This is surrounded by a quarry ditch 2 metres wide and approximatey 0.35 metres deep. The south eastern bowl barrow has a mound 8 metres in diameter and approximately 0.8 metres high. This is known to be surrounded by a quarry ditch visible in the 1960s. The ditch has since become infilled but will survive as a buried feature 1.5 metres wide. <8>

<1> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 28-30 (Monograph). SDO132.

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

(Centred SY 799877) Tumuli (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, 446 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘All three barrows, including a bell, are on Old Knowle, a large, prominent natural knoll, above 100 ft. contour towards S. edge of Moreton Heath (SY 78 NE). They have been damaged by tree felling. Another (LVG 3) has been claimed in an area now destroyed by quarrying.
(28) Bell (79888778). Diam. about 90 ft., ht. 11 ft., with berm about 7 ft. wide. Large tree-clump enclosure lies within and obscures original, probably large, ditch. Top hollowed.’

<4> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 1979-12-04 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<5> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<6> Environment Agency, 2010, Lidar DSM (Aerial Photograph). SDO13147.

<7> English Heritage, 27-AUG-1998, NMR SY 7987/2-3 NMR 18142/13-14 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13842.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 453891 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 24 2023 1:32PM