Round barrow on St Catherine's Hill camp

Summary

Bell barrow on St Catherine’s Hill, Christchurch.

Reasons for Designation

Bell barrows, the most visually impressive form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating to the Early and Middle Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 1500-1100 BC. They occur either in isolation or in round barrow cemeteries and were constructed as single or multiple mounds covering burials, often in pits, and surrounded by an enclosure ditch. The burials are frequently accompanied by weapons, personal ornaments and pottery and appear to be those of aristocratic individuals, usually men. Bell barrows (particularly multiple barrows) are rare nationally, with less than 250 known examples, most of which are in Wessex. Their richness in terms of grave goods provides evidence for chronological and cultural links amongst early prehistoric communities over most of southern and eastern England as well as providing an insight into their beliefs and social organisation. They are a particularly rare form of barrow. The bell barrow on St Catherine’s Hill, Christchurch survives well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, longevity, territorial significance, social organisation, funerary and ritual practices and overall landscape context.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 18 February 2016. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument includes a bell barrow situated on the prominent ridge called St Catherine’s Hill between the valleys of the Rivers Stour and Avon. The barrow survives as a circular mound measuring up to 20m in diameter and 1m high surrounded by a partly visible quarry ditch from which the construction material was derived. This ditch is up to 3.5m wide and 0.5m deep. The berm which originally formed part of the earthwork is obscured and part of the ditch to the east has been buried beneath a later track.

Further archaeological remains survive in the vicinity and most are the subject of separate schedulings others are not included because they have not been formally assessed.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

DO 835

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
PastScape 458464

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Print the official list entry