Details

The monument includes a bell barrow and pond barrow forming part of a round
barrow cemetery on Black Down, a north facing chalk slope overlooking the
South Winterbourne valley, in an area of the South Dorset Downs. The barrows
are aligned broadly east-west.
The bell barrow was recorded by L V Grinsell in 1959 when it had a central
mound 12m wide and c.0.9m high, surrounded by a berm or gently sloping
platform 6m wide. The monument has since been ploughed and now has a mound 28m
wide and c.1m high. This is surrounded by a ditch from which material was
quarried during the construction of the monument. This is no longer visible at
ground level as it has become infilled over the years, but it will survive as
a buried feature c.2m wide.
To the west of the bell barrow is the pond barrow. This too was surveyed by
L V Grinsell in 1959, when it consisted of a central depression 11m wide and
c.0.3m deep. This was surrounded by an external bank 5m wide and c.0.3m high.
The outer bank has since been spread by ploughing and the central depression
has become largely infilled, although it remains visible as a slight
depression with a maximum depth of c.0.15m.

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

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise
closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds
covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a
considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as
a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit
considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including
several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier
long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them,
contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been
revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a
marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other
important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent
locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst
their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important
information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are
considered worthy of protection.

Despite some ploughing, the bell barrow and pond barrow 880m south east of
Kingston Russell Farm survive comparatively well and will contain
archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the
landscape in which it was constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc.' in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 172
Grinsell, L V, 'Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc.' in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 164

Source: Historic England