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Bowl barrow on Hambury Tout: the eastern of two round barrows on Hambury Tout

A Scheduled Monument in West Lulworth, Dorset

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.6221 / 50°37'19"N

Longitude: -2.2609 / 2°15'39"W

OS Eastings: 381639.261359

OS Northings: 80294.0127

OS Grid: SY816802

Mapcode National: GBR 10Q.Z21

Mapcode Global: FRA 674F.C0Y

Entry Name: Bowl barrow on Hambury Tout: the eastern of two round barrows on Hambury Tout

Scheduled Date: 19 March 1968

Last Amended: 20 May 1994

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1011484

English Heritage Legacy ID: 21973

County: Dorset

Civil Parish: West Lulworth

Traditional County: Dorset

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Dorset

Church of England Parish: The Lulworths, Winfrith Newburgh and Chaldon

Church of England Diocese: Salisbury

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on a hilltop above the Dorset
coast. The barrow mound measures 14.4m in diameter and is 0.7m high.
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 0.3m deep and 1.5m wide.
The top of the barrow is hollowed indicating an antiquarian excavation.
Records suggest the barrow was opened by J Milner in 1790 who found bones and
broken urn sherds.

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 evidence for partial excavation, the bowl barrow on Hambury Tout
survives well and will contain archaeological remains and environmental
evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was
constructed. This barrow is one of a pair which form part of a wider group
which survive along the Dorset coast.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Grinsell, L. V., List of Dorset Barrows (Unpub) and Gents Mag 1790 pp 897-901,

Source: Historic England

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