Details

The monument includes two confluent bowl barrows aligned north-south, lying on
lowland heath close to the Dorset coast, and forming part of the Coombe Beacon
barrow cemetery.
The larger of the two barrows is 1m high whilst the smaller, which abuts the
south-east edge of the larger, is 0.3m high. The barrow mounds are 20m and 7m
in diameter respectively. Each mound has a ditch from which material was
quarried during the construction of the monument. These are no longer visible
at ground level having become infilled over the years, but survive as buried
features c.3.5m and 1m wide respectively.

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

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 two bowl barrows on Coombe Heath forming part of the Coombe Beacon barrow
cemetery have survived well and contain archaeological remains and
environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it
was constructed. These barrows are amongst a number which survive on this
piece of heathland between the River Frome and the coast.

Source: Historic England