Bowl barrow 850m WNW of Peaked Close House: part of a dispersed round barrow cemetery on Corfe Common

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 evidence for partial excavation, this bowl barrow on Corfe Common survives well and will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the cemetery and the landscape in which it was constructed. This barrow is one of a number which survive in the area of the Purbeck Hills.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow forming part of a wider dispersed round barrow cemetery situated on an east-west ridge in a valley with views to the north over the town of Corfe Castle and to the south to the Purbeck Hills. The barrow mound measures 16m in diameter and is 1.5m high. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from which material was quarried during its construction. This has become infilled over the years and can no longer be seen at ground level. It does, however, survive as a buried feature c.3m wide. The top of the mound is flattened with a slight hollow, apparently the result of antiquarian excavation.

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:

21964

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, , County of Dorset , (1970), 443

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