Two bowl barrows 700m south east of Kingston Russell Farm, part of the Black Down 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.

Despite ploughing, the two bowl barrows 700m south east of Kingston Russell Farm will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes two bowl barrows forming part of a round barrow cemetery on Black Down, a gentle, north facing slope overlooking the South Winterbourne valley, in an area of the South Dorset Downs. The two barrows, which are aligned broadly north-south, were recorded by L V Grinsell in 1959. The southern example had a mound 8m wide and c.1.5m high, and the northern barrow had a mound 8m wide and c.0.6m high. Both mounds have since been reduced by ploughing, although in each case survive as buried features. The two mounds are each surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. These are no longer visible at ground level as they have become infilled over the years, but both will survive as buried features 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:

22937

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc. in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 116

End of official list entry

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