Monument record MDO8241 - Bowl barrow overlooking St Oswald's Bay, West Lulworth

Two bowl barrows aligned north east by south west, situated below the crest of a ridge overlooking St Oswald's Bay to the south. The barrows were recorded by the Ordnance Survey in 1903. Two bowl barrows aligned north east by south west, situated below the crest of a ridge overlooking St Oswald's Bay to the south. The barrows were recorded by the Ordnance Survey in 1903, LV Grinsell in 1959 and the RCHME in 1970. Each has a mound composed of earth and chalk, with maximum dimensions of 30 metres and 35 metres in diameter and about 0.5 metres in height. Surrounding each mound is a quarry ditch. These have become infilled over the years, but each will survive as a buried feature 2 metres wide. This larger, western barrow was partially excavated in 1916 by Mr V P Kitchin and Captain D A Brownsword. Their investigation uncovered an urn containing the cremated remains of an adult woman. The urn was situated within a cavity in natural clay with flints; it was surrounded by a lining of ash and lay beneath a triangular flat stone which was associated with sheep bones. The barrows are visible as low earthworks on aerial photographs taken in 1946 and have since been plough-levelled.

Two bowl barrows aligned north east by south west, situated below the crest of a ridge overlooking St Oswald's Bay to the south. The barrows were recorded by the Ordnance Survey in 1903, LV Grinsell in 1959 and the RCHME in 1970. Each has a mound composed of earth and chalk, with maximum dimensions of 30 metres and 35 metres in diameter and about 0.5 metres in height. The larger mound is to the west. Surround each mound is a quarry ditch. These have become infilled over the years, but each will survive as a buried feature 2 metres wide. The western barrow was partially excavated in 1916 by Mr VP Kitchin and Captain DA Brownsword. Their investigation uncovered an urn containing the cremated remains of an adult woman. The urn was situated within a cavity in natural clay with flints; it was surrounded by a lining of ash and lay beneath a triangular flat stone which was associated with sheep bones. (1-9).

A) & B). Both bowl barrows, under the plough. <2>

'B' - Similar in condition to 'A'. The diameter is 29.0 metres, and the height 0.4 metres. There is no trace of a berm or ditch, and while the surface is littered with large flint nodules, no finds were made at this bowl barrow during field investigation. It is now under crops. <3>

'B' - (37) - SY 80508128. Bowl (?) barrow, ploughed, with only slight mound remains. Excavation in 1916 revealed a primary (?) cremation in upright bucket-shaped urn contained in a hole beneath a flat stone about 5 or 6 ft. west of assumed centre. <7>

"SY 806816, SY 805812, SY 800811. Round barrows north west of NewlandsFarm". Scheduled. <8>

Both bowl barrows have been ploughed out. <10>

One of two barrows marked on the OS 1st Edition map. They are visible as low earthworks on aerial photographs taken in 1946 and have since been plough-levelled and visible only as cropmarks <12-13>. The mounds lie in the vicinity of a number of small chalk pits and associated spoil heaps (MWX3974), some of which appear as chalk mounds of similar appearance to the barrows on the latest Google earth imagery. It is uncertain how many are barrows and how many spoil heaps. The features were digitally plotted during the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1903 (Map). SWX1540.

('A'-SY 80628134; 'B'-SY 80498128) Tumuli (NR)

<2> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 10-JUL-52 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<3> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F2 NVQ 05-SEP-52 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<4> Grinsell, L V, Dorset Barrows (Unpublished MSs) (Unpublished document). SWX2678.

<5> Kitchin, V P, 1959, The Opening of a Round Barrow at West Lulworth in 1916 (Article in serial). SWX927.

<6> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1960, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1959, 92-93 (Serial). SDO59.

<7> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 445 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘(37) Bowl (?) (SY 88 SW; 80508128) near summit of ridge. Ploughed, only slight mound remains. Excavation in 1916 produced a primary (?) cremation in upright bucket-shaped urn in hole beneath flat stone about 5 ft. or 6 ft. W. of assumed centre (Dorset Procs. LXXXI (1959), 92–3).’

<8> 1978, List of ancient monuments in England: Southern England, p71 (Monograph). SWX1558.

<9> DCMS, 1999, Scheduled Monument Notification 1999, 19-MAR-1999 (Scheduling record). SDO17351.

<10> Attrill, N J, Field Investigators Comments NJA, F3 NJA 27-AUG-81 (Unpublished document). SDO14743.

<11> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<12> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1821 2436-7 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13742.

<13> Royal Air Force, 18-FEB-1970, RAF 58/0254 0004-5 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13743.

<14> National Record of the Historic Environment, 455599 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 23 2024 4:00PM