Monument record MDO8795 - Bowl barrow on Sopley Common, Christchurch

A bowl barrow situated on a prominent knoll on Sopley Common. The barrow has a flat-topped mound which has been partly disturbed by a wartime structure, which has now been demolished, leaving the centre and the western half intact. It is 16 metres in diameter and 1.2 metres high. Fragments of sarsen are visible in the mound on the north eastern and western sides. The mound is surrounded by a quarry ditch which has become infilled over the years but will survive as a buried feature 2 metres wide. Scheduled. The barrow and the partially ruined wartime building are visible on 1940s aerial photographs and were digitally plotted during the Dorset Stour NMP.

A bowl barrow, surrounded by visible ditch. Sarsen on top. Diameter 16 paces; height 3 1/2 ft. <1>

This barrow has been destroyed by a (now demolished) wartime structure. <2>

The barrow is situated 25 metres SSE of the position given above, on the summit of a natural hillock, and is only partially destroyed. The western half is largely intact, 16 paces across by 1.1 metres high, with a flat top 6 paces across and a central depression. The estimated original centre of the mound is at SZ 1312497540. There is no sarsen stone in the vicinity although a piece of sandstone about 25 cm across is embedded in the NE side of the mound. Erosion is being caused to the barrow by motor-cycle scrambling. <3>

The barrow and the partially ruined wartime building are visible on 1940s aerial photographs and were digitally plotted during the Dorset Stour NMP. Surving sections of earthwork are visible on the west and east sides of the monument, with the partial walling of a wartime military building set close to the west side of the barrow mound <5>. The building is likely associated with a wider concentration of buildings and structures associated with an early 20th century camp or ancillary complex (MDO39677) associated with the wartime Hurn airfield (MDO39623). The monument is located within an area of open heath on current Google Earth imagery <6> but its current condition of the monument is not known.

<1> Grinsell, L V, 1940, Hampshire Barrows; Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society 14, 193,361 (Article in serial). SWX3470.

<2> Burton, V J, 1954, Field Investigators Comments VJB, F1 VJB 26-OCT-54 (Unpublished document). SWX3801.

<3> Aitken, P, 1976, A Survey of the Archaeological Sites On Sopley Common, Dorset, p2 (Unpublished document). SWX3841.

<4> DCMS, 1997, Scheduled Monument Notification 1997, 25/09/1997 (Scheduling record). SDO17426.

<5> Royal Air Force, 28-MAY-48, RAF/CPE/UK/2548 V 5156-7 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15553.

<6> Google Earth, 2017, Google Earth 2017 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15388.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 458417 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 20 2024 1:11PM