Bell barrow and seven bowl barrows, forming a dispersed round barrow cemetery on Worgret Heath, 645m north west of Worgret Manor Farm

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 bell barrow and seven bowl barrows forming a dispersed round barrow cemetery on Worgret Heath survive well and will contain archaeological evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. The two small bowl barrows within the nucleated group are especially fragile and represent an unusual survival.

Details

The monument, which falls into five areas, includes a bell barrow and seven bowl barrows, situated on Worgret Heath at the eastern end of the ridge separating the valleys of the rivers Frome and Piddle. The monument occurs in proximity to a group of linear earthworks, which are the subject of separate schedulings. To the east, the bell barrow and three bowl barrows form a nucleated group, aligned north east by south west along a spur. The bell barrow, which is situated at the south west end of this alignment, has a mound composed of sand, gravel and earth with maximum dimensions of 13m in diameter and about 1.5m in height. This is surrounded by a berm or gently sloping platform 2.5m wide, itself surrounded by a quarry ditch, visible as an earthwork 3m wide and about 0.4m deep. A bowl barrow 50m to the north east, has a mound 13m in diameter and about 1.35m high, surrounded by a quarry ditch visible as an earthwork 2m wide and about 0.5m deep. Two small bowl barrows are situated between the larger barrows. Each has a mound with maximum dimensions of between 4m to 5m in diameter and between about 0.4m to about 0.5m in height. The surrounding quarry ditches have become infilled but each will survive as a buried feature about 1m wide. The remaining bowl barrows are situated to the west and south west on a series of knolls and ridges. Each barrow has a mound with maximum dimensions of between 6.5m to 17m in diameter and between about 0.35m to about 1.2m in height. Each is surrounded by a quarry ditch, all of which are visible as earthworks between 1m and 2.5m in width. The bowl barrow situated immediately west of the nucleated group, is associated with an under-ground shelter on its north eastern side. This has destroyed part of the barrow ditch and caused disturbance to part of the barrow mound. The structure of the shelter is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground around and beneath 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:

29077

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 435
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 434
Grinsell, L V, Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc. in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 86

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