Twenty-one barrows forming part of a round barrow cemetery at Winterbourne Poor Lot

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 Poor Lot cemetery survives well as one of very few examples in Dorset known to exhibit such a wide range of different forms of round barrow, including some of the rare barrow types such as disc and pond barrows. The cemetery is unusually situated within a valley bottom.

Details

The monument includes a group of 21 round barrows situated within the western area of the South Dorset Downs, on the lower part of a north facing slope, within the valley of the South Winterbourne. This group forms the core of a dispersed round barrow cemetery known as Winterbourne Poor Lot. The cemetery contains at least 44 barrows, the remainder of which cluster in a series of small groups to the south, east and north east. The cemetery is clearly visible from the chalk ridges to the north and south, where further groups of barrows are known to survive. The core of the Poor Lot round barrow cemetery is situated within an area of 3ha and situated on a natural terrace in the hillside. Many of the barrows within the group are inter-visible and individual settings suggest careful location in order to provide views over other neighbouring barrow groups. The largest barrow is a bowl barrow situated at the centre of the group. It has a mound composed of chalk, earth and flint, with a diameter of 35m and a maximum height of c.2.5m. This is surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. The ditch survives as an earthwork 4.5m-5m wide and c.0.65m deep. At the western end is a linear group comprising a disc barrow and seven bowl barrows which are orientated WNW by ESE. The disc barrow is defined by a bank composed of chalk and earth with dimensions of 2m in width and c.0.75m in height. The bank is surrounded by an outer ditch with maximum dimensions of 1.2m in width and c.0.4m in depth from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. The interior of the barrow includes a central raised platform 19m in diameter, at the centre of which there is a crescent- shaped mound 7.5m wide and c.0.4m high. The bowl barrows have mounds composed of earth, flint and chalk with dimensions of between 12m and 23m in diameter and c.0.5m to c.2.5m in height. All are situated just below the crest of the ridge in order to stand out on the sky-line when viewed from the valley bottom. Each of the barrows is surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. In the case of the smaller mounds, the ditches have become infilled over the years, but will survive as buried features c.2m wide. The largest bowl barrow is surrounded by a ditch which remains visible as an earthwork 2m wide and c.0.45m deep. To the north and north east of the main alignment of barrows, is a group of five smaller bowl barrows. These have mounds with dimensions of between 5m to 13m in diameter and c.0.25m to c.1.2m in height. All of the mounds are surrounded by ditches which survive as buried features c.2m wide. On the north eastern side of the group is a triple bowl barrow. This includes three mounds which are amalgamated and have overall dimensions of 23m in length, 12m wide (at the eastern end), 14m wide (at the western end) and a maximum height of c.1.2m. The three barrow mounds are surrounded by a ditch which has become infilled over the years, but is known to survive as a buried feature c.3m wide. At the eastern end of the cemetery is a group of three disc barrows. Unlike the main group, these are aligned on a north east by south west axis, following the alignment of the terrace on which they are situated. The southern and central examples both have a central mound; this is c.0.25m high and 10m in diameter in the case of the southern barrow and c.0.2m high and 12m in diameter for the central barrow. Both are surrounded by a berm or gently sloping platform 5m wide with an outer ditch 4m wide and c.0.25m deep for southern barrow, 3m wide and c.0.2m deep for the central barrow. The northern disc barrow has a central mound c.0.75m high and 15m wide, surrounded by a ditch enclosing an internal area c.22m in diameter. The ditch is 2.5m wide and c.0.15m-0.2m deep. On the outside of the ditch there are traces of a bank 3m wide and c.0.15m high. Some 20m to the north west of the central disc barrow is a small pond barrow. This has a central depression 10m wide and c.0.2m deep which was surrounded by an outer bank. This has become levelled over the years. The round barrow cemetery is crossed by a parish boundary between Kingston Russell and Winterbourne Abbas. This survives as a low bank 1m wide and c.0.5m high to the south of the large bowl barrow near to the centre of the group. There are also traces of old field banks running parallel to the modern field boundary within the south western area of the cemetery. On the south eastern side of the cemetery is a mound 20m in diameter and c.0.6m high. This is situated close to a quarry and is likely to represent a spoil heap. Excluded from the scheduling are all fence posts and gates relating to the field boundaries, although the underlying ground is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

22926

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
An Inventory of the Historical Monuments of Dorset: Volume 1 , (1952), 129
An Inventory of the Historical Monuments of Dorset: Volume 1 , (1952), 129
An Inventory of the Historical Monuments of Dorset: Volume 1 , (1952), 463
An Inventory of the Historical Monuments of Dorset: Volume 1 , (1952), 129
An Inventory of the Historical Monuments of Dorset: Volume 1 , (1952), 129
An Inventory of the Historical Monuments of Dorset: Volume 1 , (1952), 129
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 461-2
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 461
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 463
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 463
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 463
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 463
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 463
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 461-2
Grinsell, L V, Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc. in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 116
Grinsell, L V, Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc. in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 116
Grinsell, L V, Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc. in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 147
Grinsell, L V, Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc. in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 172
Grinsell, L V, Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc. in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 171
Grinsell, L V, Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc. in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 147
Grinsell, L V, Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc. in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 116
Grinsell, L V, Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc. in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 116

Other
Mention bank (NAR rept),
Location,
Sketchplan,

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Print the official list entry