Monument record MDO7870 - Bowl barrow on Grange Heath, Steeple

Large Bronze Age barrow wih surrounding bank and ditch, visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. In 1970 this monument was reported as being around 55 feet in diameter with a mound about 5 feet high.

Bell Barrow. Large, with berm raised 1 1/2ft. Above surrounding ground. The barrow is smothered in vegetation. <2>

Authy 2 correct. The diameter is 31.0 metres, the height 2.7 metres, and the berm is approximately 3.0 metres wide. The mound is mutilated on top and surmounted by a flag-staff. A ditch surrounding the barrow is 1.4 metres wide and 0.75 metres deep. <3>

Now falls in active military range, destruction possible. <4>

SY 90668374. Steeple 3a. Barrow listed. (RCHM records suggest this as bowl barrow surrounded by ditch of copse; LVG claims it as a bell barrow). <5>

Bowl barrow (?) at SY 90668374, towards the west end of a slight ridge. Diameter 55 feet, height 5 feet, surrounded by tree-clump enclosure. Overgrown. <6>

SY 906837. Round barrow on Grange Heath. Scheduled Dorset 699. <7>

The dimensions of this large round barrow are as noted by Quinnell in 1952 and it is still submerged under dense gorse vegetation. Two well-worn paths across the mound, and a third around the circumference, indicate that it is more likely to be damaged by grazing cattle than by future army activity.

The mound, covered by conifer tree stumps, has been disturbed, but the ditch, which is probably of fairly recent origin, is well defined.A vague rise on the inside edge of this ditch may indicate the former presence of a bank; a sub-circular feature is depicted in the position on the 1959 OS 1:2500 plan but not noted in the text. The "berm" follows the undulating line of the ridge-top around the mound, the fact, noted by Grinsell, that it was raised above the surrounding ground may account for the missing ditch spoil or, of course, it may be the result of a levelling of the bank. The evidence suggests that this is a bowl barrow rather than a bell barrow. Published 1:2500 survey revised. <8>

Large Bronze age barrow wih surrounding bank and ditch, visible as earthworks on aerial photographs <11-12>. The mound itself is 20 m across. There appears to be a berm separating it from the outer ditch and bank. A small hollow on top of the mound may be the site of an robber pit or military activity. The site was digitally plotted during the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1930 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 90658374) Tumulus (NR)

<2> Grinsell, L V, Dorset Barrows (Unpublished MSs) (Unpublished document). SWX2678.

<3> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 23-JUL-52 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<4> Colquhoun, F D, Field Investigators Comments FDC, F2 FDC 30-DEC-52 (Unpublished document). SWX2609.

<5> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 131, 164 (Monograph). SDO132.

<6> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 451 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘(25) Bowl (?) (SY 98 SW; 90668374) about 170 ft. above O.D. towards W. end of slight ridge. Diam. 55 ft., ht. 5 ft., surrounded by tree-clump enclosure. Overgrown.’

<7> Department of the Environment, 1978, Department of the Environment (IAM) Ancient Monuments of England (Vol 2), 69 (Monograph). SWX1687.

<8> Fletcher, Martin, Field investigator's comments MJF, F3 MJF 04-MAY-86 (Unpublished document). SDO17630.

<9> Papworth, M D J, Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1983, Isle of Purbeck Survey, IOP 195 (Index). SDO147.

‘Visible as a low rise on a knoll covered in bracken and heather. 1/2/C.’

<10> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<11> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1821 4415 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13462.

<12> Royal Air Force, 18-JAN-1962, RAF 58/4878 (F22) 0068-9 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13463.

<13> National Record of the Historic Environment, 457002 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 21 2024 4:50PM