Details

The monument, which falls in six areas, includes a barrow cemetery on the edge
of a ridge south and west of Rose Lawn Coppice 600m south west of Higher
Merley Farm. The barrows have mounds ranging in diameter between 7m and
18m and between 0.3m and 2m high. All are surrounded by ditches which survive
either as visible depressions or as buried features up to 3m wide.
All fence posts, track surfaces, steps and irrigation pipes are excluded from
the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features 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.

The barrow cemetery south and west of Rose Lawn Coppice 600m south west of
Higher Merley Farm is a well preserved example of its class and will contain
archaeological remains providing information about Bronze Age beliefs, economy
and environment.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, (1970)

Source: Historic England