Details

The monument includes a group of four bowl barrows situated on a ridge
immediately north west of Maiden Castle overlooking the Frome Valley to the
north east. The barrows, which are situated to the south west of an earlier
long barrow, form part of a wider cemetery of eight round barrows located to
the west and north west of Maiden Castle.
The barrows each have a mound composed of earth, chalk and flint, with maximum
dimensions of between 15m-23m in diameter and c.0.2m-0.5m in height. Each
mound is surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during the
construction of the monument. The ditches have become infilled over the years,
but each will survive as a buried feature c.2m wide.
The southern bowl barrow was partly excavated by John Sydenham in 1844, when
three inhumation burials and a vessel were discovered.
Excluded from the scheduling are all fence posts relating to the modern field
boundary, although 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

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 reduction by ploughing, the four bowl barrows immediately north
west of Maiden Castle are known from part excavation to contain archaeological
and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which
it was constructed. This forms part of one of three round barrow cemeteries in
the immediate vicinity of Maiden Castle.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 471
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 471
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 471
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 471
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 471
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 471
Other
Mention proximity to long barrow,
Mention wider barrow cemetery,
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Series
Source Date:
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:
Mapped depiction
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Series
Source Date: 1955
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:
Mapped depiction

Source: Historic England