Round barrow cemetery south and west of Rose Lawn Coppice, 600m south west of Higher Merley 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 barrow cemetery south and west of Rose Lawn Coppice 600m south west of Higher Merley Farm is a well preserved example of its class and will contain archaeological remains providing information about Bronze Age beliefs, economy and environment.

Details

The monument, which falls in six areas, includes a barrow cemetery on the edge of a ridge south and west of Rose Lawn Coppice 600m south west of Higher Merley Farm. The barrows have mounds ranging in diameter between 7m and 18m and between 0.3m and 2m high. All are surrounded by ditches which survive either as visible depressions or as buried features up to 3m wide. All fence posts, track surfaces, steps and irrigation pipes are excluded from the scheduling, 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:

29589

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, (1970)

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.