Bowl barrow on Black Down, 400m north west of the Hardy Monument

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.

Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, date from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. Over 10,000 surviving examples are recorded nationally. The bowl barrow on Black Down, 400m north west of the Hardy Monument survives well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. The barrow, which is unusual in having a mound composed largely of pebble-flint, forms part of the wider South Dorset Ridgeway group, which represents one of the largest and most concentrated distributions of barrows in England.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on the western part of Black Down, overlooking the Winterborne Valley to the north. It forms part of a wider cemetery of 16 round barrows (of which 15 survive), forming part of the larger South Dorset Ridgeway barrow group. The additional barrows in this cemetery are the subject of separate schedulings. The barrow has a mound composed of pebble-flint and earth, with maximum dimensions of 9m in diameter and about 0.7m in height. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from which material was quarried during its construction. This has become infilled over the years, but will survive as a buried feature 1.5m 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:

33201

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 449

End of official list entry

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