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Bowl barrow on the south west slope of Breeze Hill, Melbury Down

A Scheduled Monument in Melbury Abbas, Dorset

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.9759 / 50°58'33"N

Longitude: -2.1548 / 2°9'17"W

OS Eastings: 389224.36131

OS Northings: 119618.737244

OS Grid: ST892196

Mapcode National: GBR 1XY.N20

Mapcode Global: FRA 66CJ.Q9Z

Entry Name: Bowl barrow on the south west slope of Breeze Hill, Melbury Down

Scheduled Date: 12 July 1961

Last Amended: 19 April 1996

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1013678

English Heritage Legacy ID: 27351

County: Dorset

Civil Parish: Melbury Abbas

Traditional County: Dorset

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Dorset

Church of England Parish: Melbury Abbas St Thomas

Church of England Diocese: Salisbury

Details

The monument includes the levelled remains of a Bronze Age ditched bowl barrow
on the south west slope of Breeze Hill on Melbury Down. The barrow mound was
previously recorded as being c.8m in diameter. Surrounding this and surviving
as a buried feature approximately 2m wide is the barrow ditch from which was
quarried material to construct the mound.

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 by cultivation, the bowl barrow on the
south west slope of Breeze Hill on Melbury Down will contain archaeological
remains, providing information about Bronze Age burial practices, economy and
environment.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc.' in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 119

Source: Historic England

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