SDO21274 - Geophysical Survey of the Pentridge 26 Long Barrow

‘‘Pentridge 26’ is the RCHME identifier given to a ploughed-out barrow located a short distance to the west of Pentridge, Dorset. Although the barrow was scheduled as a bowl barrow, crop mark evidence from aerial photographs suggested the barrow might in fact be a much earlier Neolithic long barrow, with similarities to nearby Wor Barrow. A geophysical survey of the barrow has confirmed that this monument is likely to be a long barrow, with large flanking ditches. Furthermore, the survey has revealed tantalising evidence that the barrow may have been constructed in multiple phases, with a possible smaller U-shaped ditch later superseded with a more substantial set of ditches which probably contributed the material for a much larger mound. Parallels can be drawn with Wor Barrow, which is also thought to have started as a smaller monument, later to be reformed into a substantial long barrow mound with sizeable flanking ditches.‘