Details

This monument includes a bowl barrow prominently situated on the Dorset
coastal ridge.
The barrow mound measures 15m in diameter and stands to 2m high. Surrounding
the mound is a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction
of the monument. This has been infilled over the years and can hardly be
seen at ground level. Except for a slight earthwork on the west side of the
mound, it survives as a buried feature c.3m wide.
Partial excavation of the mound in 1867 revealed a bucket urn containing what
was probably a Bronze Age cremation. The urn, which is now destroyed, was
found near the middle of the barrow on the original ground surface.
The barrow used to be one of a pair, but the eastern mound has now been
levelled.
A post and wire fence crosses the east side of the mound which also supports
wooden posts and a telegraph pole. These features are excluded from the
scheduling although the ground beneath 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.

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 partial excavation, Wardstone Barrow is largely intact and will
contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the
monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. This is one of
numerous barrows which survive locally and, as such will contribute to our
understanding of Bronze Age settlement in the area.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Farrar, R A H, 'Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc' in Archaeological Fieldwork In Dorset, , Vol. 77, (1955), 127-8

Source: Historic England