Round barrow on Black Hill

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1002847
Date first listed:: 12-Jan-1961

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1002847
Date first listed:: 12-Jan-1961

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Dorset (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Cerne Abbas
National Grid Reference:: ST 67378 00187

Summary

Bowl barrow 550m south-west of Black Hill Farm.

Reasons for Designation

Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar, although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form and a diversity of burial practices. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period. Despite partial early excavation the bowl barrow 550m south west of Black Hill Farm survives comparatively 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 20 January 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 bowl barrow situated on the upper south facing slopes of the prominent Black Hill above a spur extending to Green Hill and overlooking the dry valleys of Francombe Bottom and Oxencombe Bottom. The barrow survives as a circular mound measuring up to 16m in diameter and 1.7m high surrounded by a buried quarry ditch from which the construction material was derived. There is an early excavation hollow in the centre of the mound. Further archaeological remains in the vicinity are scheduled separately.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:: DO 452
Legacy System:: RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
PastScape Monument No:-198989

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.