Monument record MDO8627 - Barrow 10, Hengistbury Head

Bronze Age round barrow, one of two on the northern side of Warren Hill, Hengistbury Head, excavated in 1919 by Harold St George Gray. It had been mutilated by earlier, unrecorded excavations, and Gray was unable to find any trace of burials. The barrow is visible as an earthwork on undated (possibly 1960's) aerial photographs.

Excavated by H St G Gray 1919. Finds, probably only a few flints, now in Taunton Museum. Considered non-sepulchral. Excavation unpublished. <2>

A heather-covered mound, 14.0m in diameter and 0.7m high; mutilated by circular modern intrenchment. No visible ditch. <3>

No change. Published 1:2500 survey correct. <4>

Barrow 10 (Gray's Barrow F) a mutilated mound 13m in diameter, 0.7m high. A slight ditch and bank visible within the southern half of the barrow is thought to be a relatively modern boundary earthwork.

This round barrow is situated on the northern part of Warren Hill, Hengistbury Head, one of two adjacent barrows. It was about 13 metres in diameter and 0.7 metres high. It was excavated as Mound F by H St George Gray in August 1919. The excavation revealed that the barrow had been previously disturbed by earlier unrecorded excavations, particularly in the eastern and northern parts and nineteenth century pottery was recovered from these disturbed areas. No burials were found, nor any pottery, but these are likely to have been removed by the earlier barrow diggers. A quantity of flint including cores and flakes was recovered from the barrow mound, together with large quantities of burnt flint. <5>

St George Gray noted a slight bank about two metres wide on the south-eastern side of the barrow, which continued for some distance and he interepreted this as a comparatively modern boundary feature linked up with the two barrows (Barrows 10 and 11). However, this bank is on approximately the same line as a Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age bank and ditch earthwork running across the headland to the southeast. <6>

The barrow is visible as an earthwork on undated (possibly 1960s) aerial photographs. The barrow is formed of a sub-circular mound measuring 6 m in diameter, surrounded by a ditch measuring up to 1 m in width <7>. The site is not visible on the most recent comprehensive aerial imagery available to the project. This site was digitally plotted during the South West rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (Dorset).

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1931 (Map). SWX1540.

(SZ 1770 9064) (one of two) Tumuli (NR)

<2> Calkin, J B, Annotated Record Map Corr. 6, 1949 (Map). SWX8351.

<3> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 14-JUL-54 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<4> Aldsworth, F G, Various, Field Investigators Comments FGA, F2 FGA 19-MAR-69 (Unpublished document). SWX1161.

<5> Cunliffe, B, 1987, Hengistbury Head, Dorset. 1: The Prehistoric and Roman Settlement, 3500BC- AD500, Excavations at Crouch Hill, 1921, 1969. in Oxford University Committee for Archaeology monograph series Vol no.13 Page(s) 40-7, p 51 (Monograph). SWX4038.

<6> Barton, R N E, 1992, Hengistbury Head, Dorset. 2: The Late Palaeolithic and Early Mesolithic Sites, 12-15, 46-49, 54-59 (Monograph). SWX3704.

<7> Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photography, No Date, CUCAP K17L 128-9 (Aerial Photograph). SDO12719.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 458744 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 23 2024 3:41PM