Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow lying on lowland heath close to the Dorset
coast.
The barrow mound is 1m high and 25m across. A central hollow suggests that the
mound may once have been partially excavated. Surrounding the mound is a ditch
from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. This
has become partly infilled over the years, but can still be seen as a slight
depression 1m wide and 0.5m deep. Beyond the ditch is a low outer bank 0.25m
high and 2m 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.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

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.

Despite evidence for partial excavation, the bowl barrow on Highwood Heath
survives well and contains archaeological remains and environmental evidence
relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. This
barrow is one of a number to survive on the heathland between the River Frome
and the Dorset coast.

Source: Historic England