Windmill Barrow, a bowl barrow 40m south west of Windmill Barrow Farm

Reasons for Designation

Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar, although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form and a diversity of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring across most of lowland Britain. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

The Windmill Barrow survives well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument, its later reuse as a Windmill and the contemporary landscape.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on a ridge overlooking the Winterborne Valley to the north. The barrow has a mound composed of earth, sand and turf, with maximum dimensions of 30m in diameter and c.1.8m in height. The mound is surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. The ditch has become infilled over the years, but will survive as a buried feature c.3m wide. The barrow is likely to have later been reused as a windmill mound in the post-medieval period, after which it is named. An embankment, which is up to 0.5m high, encircles the top of the mound and is likely to have been associated with the windmill. Excluded from the scheduling are all fence posts relating to the modern field boundaries, along with the galvanised structures to the north of the mound, although the ground beneath these features is included.

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:

28370

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc. in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 121

Other
No sign of windmill foundations, RCHME, National Monuments Record,
Leech, P, Ancient Monuments Record Form,
Mention re-use as windmill mound, RCHME, National Monuments Record,
Mention bank on windmill mound, RCHME, National Monuments Record,
Mention no sign of a quarry ditch, RCHME, National Monuments Record,
Interpretation as a bowl barrow, RCHME, National Monuments Record,

End of official list entry

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