Details

The monument, which falls into four areas, includes a group of four bowl
barrows on Hog Hill overlooking the Winterborne Valley to the south. The
barrows form part of a wider cemetery of eight round barrows situated 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 23m-25m in diameter and c.0.50m-c.0.65m 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.
Excluded from the scheduling are all fence posts relating to the modern field
boundaries, 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 on Hog Hill west
and north west of Maiden Castle survive comparatively well and will 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
Other
Mention nearby long barrow,
Mention wider cemetery,
No mention by Grinsell/RCHME,
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Series
Source Date: 1955
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:
Mapped depiction

Source: Historic England