Bowl barrow 450m north east of Manor Farm, part of the Pound Hill round barrow cemetery

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.

The bowl barrow 450m north east of Manor Farm survives well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow, one of five forming a round barrow cemetery on Pound Hill, a chalk ridge with views over the South Winterbourne valley to the south, in an area of the South Dorset Downs. The barrow has a mound composed of earth, chalk and flint, with a maximum diameter of 25m and a maximum height of c.3m. There is a hollow in the top of the mound, 2m wide and c.0.5m deep, which is likely to represent an excavation pit. The mound is surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. This is no longer visible at ground level as it has become infilled over the years, but it will survive as a buried feature c.2m wide.

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:

22930

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Mention of excavation hollow,

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