Details

The monument includes a twin bowl barrow situated on lowland heath close to
the Dorset coast.
The southern mound is c.2m high and 27.5m wide; the northern mound is c.2.5m
high and 26.5m wide. The two confluent mounds, when measured lengthwise, are
39.6m long. Surrounding both mounds is a ditch from which material was
quarried during their construction. This has become partially infilled over
the years, but survives as a slight depression 0.6m deep and 3m wide. Beyond
the ditch traces of an outer bank can be seen, but so slight as to be
unsurveyable.

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.

The twin bowl barrow on Westholme Heath has survived 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, but is
one of only a few examples of a twin barrow known in the area.

Source: Historic England