Details

The monument includes the levelled remains of a Bronze Age ditched bowl barrow
on Breeze Hill, Melbury Down. The barrow mound was previously recorded as
being c.11m in diameter. Surrounding this and surviving as a buried feature
c.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
Breeze Hill, Melbury Down, will contain buried archaeological remains,
providing information about Bronze Age burial practices, economy and
environment.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Grinsell L V, Dorset Barrows, 1934-55 MSS

Source: Historic England