Details

The monument includes the northernmost of two bowl barrows aligned north-south
and situated on a hilltop.
The barrow mound is 1.5m high and 11m in diameter. Surrounding the mound is a
ditch from which material was quarried during its construction. This has
become partially infilled over the years but can still be seen as a slight
depression c.2m wide.
The barbed wire fence and associated concrete post which truncates the barrow
ditch on its west side, the current flagpost and its two iron girder supports,
as well as the remains of an old wooden support, are excluded from the
scheduling but 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.

The bowl barrow on Holme Mount survives comparatively 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
which survive on this area of 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)

Source: Historic England