Monument record MDO7990 - Giant's Grave, Godlingston Hill, Swanage

An oval mound, possibly a barrow, excavated by the Rev J Austen in 1851, who found nothing. The possible barrow is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs of 1982.

In 1851 Rev J Austen excavated the site but found nothing. <1>

Dug by J. H. Austen 1851. Nothing found. An oblong mound, 12 x 5 paces 1 1/2ft high. <3>

An oblong mound which measures 10.0m. East-West and 4.0m. North- South with no ditch or traces of mutilation. Heavily overgrown with bramble bushes. Situated at the bottom of a re-entrant. ?Barrow. <4>

SZ 01228106. Giant's Grave, barrow (?) about 25ft diameter and about 2ft high. Irregular and overgrown. Austen found nothing when he excavated. <5>

It is shown as a boat-shaped mound aligned north-east to south-west with the broader end towards the south-west, labelled Giant's Grave, on William Woodward's survey of Godlingston of 1775. <7>

The possible barrow is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs of 1982 <8>. The barrow measures 9 m in diameter. A semi-circular bank on the surface of the earthwork may be spoil from the antiquarian excavation. This feature was digitally plotted during the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project.

<1> Austen, J H, 1856-7, Purbeck Papers (1856-7), 160 (Monograph). SWX2801.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Various, Ordnance Survey Map 6in. Prov. Ed, 1926-38 (Map). SWX2257.

(SZ 01228106) Giant's Grave (NAT) Tumulus (NR)

<3> Colquhoun, F D, Field Investigators Comments FDC, F1 FDC 09-OCT-51 (Unpublished document). SWX2609.

<3.1> Calkin, J B, Annotated Record Map Corr 6, 1950 (Map). SWX8214.

<3.2> Warne, C, 1866, The Celtic Tumuli of Dorset (1866) (Monograph). SWX8166.

<3.3> Grinsell, L V, Dorset Barrows (Unpublished MSs) (Unpublished document). SWX2678.

<4> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F2 JR 11-AUG-52 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<5> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 453 (Monograph). SDO150.

(81) Giant's Grave., barrow (?) (SZ 08 SW ; 01228106), on Godlingston Hill. Diam. about 25 ft., ht. about 2 ft. Irregular and overgrown. Austen found nothing.

<6> Papworth, M D J, Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1983, Isle of Purbeck Survey, IOP 297 (Index). SDO147.

Probable bowl barrow, Diam. 7.6 m and ht. 0.6 m. Situated on a steep slope covered in grass, gorse and blackberry. The barrow is overgrown R. of field which are regularly ploughed but under ley pasture. A faint rise that has been badly damaged by past excavation.
7/7/D TWA/IOP/1985

<7> The National Trust, 1997, The National Trust Archaeological Survey; Godlingston Farm, Corfe Castle., 31 (Unpublished document). SWX8164.

A plan of a boat-shaped mound aligned north-east to south-west with the broader end towards the south-west is shown on William Woodward's survey of Godlingston of 1775. At that time it was known as the Giant's Grave, a name it has retained to the present day. In 1851 Rev. J. Austen excavated the site but found nothing ( Purbeck Papers, 157-63). He said that it was an oblong mound which had been known as the Giant's Grave since time immemorial but there was no explanation as to the reason for its name. It lies a few metres west of the mound known as the Giant's Trencher ( 112,117). In 1775 it is depicted as about 30 metres long and 10m wide but in 1951 it was measured as 10m by 4m ( OS SZ08SW7). RCHM ( 1970, 453) describe it as 7.5m in diameter, 0.6m high, irregular and overgrown. The earthwork could not be located in the present survey.
Condition: The area is densely overgrown with gorse. An irregular mound in the vicinity may have been the site but it could not be examined in detail because of the undergrowth. It may have been badly damaged during the excavations of 1851. The site has not been ploughed and is in rough pasture and scrub with some cattle grazing.

<8> Ordnance Survey, 19-APR-1982, NMR OS/82047 435-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13559.

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

<10> National Record of the Historic Environment, 457545 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 21 2023 3:44PM