Round barrow cemetery on West Holme Heath, 850m north-west of Hurst Mill

Overview

Location

Reasons for Designation

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them, contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Despite some disturbance over the years, the five upstanding bowl barrows on West Holme Heath survive comparatively well and all six barrows will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. These barrows are amongst a number which survive on this piece of heathland between the River Frome and the Dorset coast.

Details

The monument includes a linear round barrow cemetery aligned east-west lying on lowland heath close to the Dorset coast. The cemetery includes five of an original group of six upstanding bowl barrows, varying in height between 0.25m and 1m and in diameter between 3m and 18.4m. The sixth barrow of the original group, lying to the west of the cemetery, has been levelled but buried features will survive and it is included in the scheduling. Each barrow mound is surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during its construction. These can no longer be seen at ground level, having become infilled over the years, but survive as buried features varying in width from 1m to 3m. The gravel and hardcore tracks which run between a number of the barrows are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features is included. The concrete hardstanding area where it falls within the constraint line is excluded from the scheduling as is the ground beneath because of the depth to which construction extends.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

21923

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, , County of Dorset , (1970)

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 Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.