Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on a ridge overlooking the Frome
valley. The barrow forms part of a group of eight similar monuments which
together form a dispersed round barrow cemetery associated with an earlier
long barrow. The rest of the barrows are the subject of separate schedulings.
The barrows also lie in proximity to part of the course of the Roman aqueduct
which supplied water to the town of Durnovaria (Dorchester). The aqueduct is
also the subject of a separate scheduling.
The barrow was recorded by L Grinsell in 1959 and the Royal Commission on the
Historical Monuments of England in 1952. It has a mound composed of earth and
chalk, with maximum dimensions of about 1.8m in height and 20m in diameter.
Partial excavation by E Cunnington in 1879 identified a primary crouched adult
inhumation burial with a beaker, six secondary cremation burials, pottery and
a small bronze knife. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from which material was
quarried during the construction of the monument. The ditch has become
infilled over the years, but will survive as a buried feature about 2m wide.
The barrow lies on the periphery of an extensive area of field system which is
likely to have prehistoric origins. The field system has since been reduced by
ploughing however, and is not considered to be of national importance and it
is not included in the scheduling.

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 bowl barrow 380m west of Whitfield Farm survives well and is known from
partial excavation to contain archaeological and environmental evidence
relating to the monument, the wider cemetery, and the landscape in which it
was constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
An Inventory of the Historical Monuments of Dorset: Volume 1 , (1952), 36
Grinsell, L V, 'Procs Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Soc.' in Dorset Barrows, (1959), 96

Source: Historic England