Monument record MDO8757 - Bowl barrow, St Catherine's Hill, Christchurch

A bowl Barrow destroyed by sand and gravel quarrying on St Catherine's Hill, Christchurch. The barrow is visible as a banked sub-circular earthwork on 1940's aerial photographs and was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

A mutilated bowl barrow; diameter 25 paces, height 10ft (2)

The site of this barrow lies on a ridge between two gravel pits. It has been destroyed by mutilation and erosion during gravel workings. (3)

Published 1:1250 revised (4)

This monument is marked on the Ordnance Survey 25-inch map epoch 1 (1871) as a 'Watch Tower (Remains of)'. (5) It is marked as 'Roman Watch Tower' on the Ordnance Survey 25-inch map epoch 2 (1898). (6) On the Ordnance Survey 25-inch map Epoch 3 (1909) it is marked as 'Earthwork'. (7) On the Ordnance Survey 25-inch map epoch 4 (1924) it is marked 'Tumulus'. (8)

The barrow is visible as a banked sub-circular earthwork on 1940s aerial photographs and was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project (9).

The site is under tree cover on a 2014 vertical aerial photograph and the barrow is not visible (10). Its current condition is not known.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1931-38 edition OS map (Map). SWX1540.

(SZ 14689495) Tumulus (NR)

<2> Grinsell, L V, 1940, Hampshire Barrows; Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society 14, p363 (Article in serial). SWX3470.

<3> Woodhouse, W C, Various, Field Investigators Comments WCW, F1 WCW 15-JUL-54 (Unpublished document). SWX3798.

<4> Wardale, C F, Various, Field Investigators Comments CFW, F2 CFW 21-MAR-69 (Unpublished document). SWX2704.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1864, 1886, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch one (Map). SDO10239.

<6> Ordnance Survey, 1900, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch two (Map). SDO11594.

<7> Ordnance Survey, 1923-33, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch three (Map). SDO11595.

<8> Ordnance Survey, 1934-38, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch four (Map). SDO11596.

<9> Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 RP 3271-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15623.

<10> GetMapping, 2014, Digital vertical aerial photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDO14101.

<11> Jefferies, Jeff, 1999, The Barrows of Christchurch. Their Past, Present and Future, Appendix 1. Barrow Record 12 (Unpublished document). SDO20590.

<12> National Record of the Historic Environment, 458889 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 20 2024 11:15AM