Details

The monument includes two of a group of three bowl barrows aligned south east-
north west and situated on chalk downland above the Dorset coast. The barrows
are prominently sited with views to the north over Chaldon Down.
The south eastern barrow mound measures 27.5m in diameter and is c.0.7m high.
The north western mound is 26.5m in diameter and 0.5m high. Each mound is
surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during its
construction. These have become infilled over the years and can no longer be
seen at ground level. They do, however, survive as buried features c.5m 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 having been reduced in height over the years due to cultivation, the
two bowl barrows c.200m south east of Hill Barn survive comparatively 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 the chalk and heathland between the River
Frome and the Dorset coast.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, , County of Dorset , (1970)
Grinsell, L V, 'Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc.' in Dorset Barrows, (1959)

Source: Historic England