Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on a prominent low ridge.
The barrow has a mound composed of earth, sand and turf, with maximum
dimensions of 16m in diameter and 1.5m in height. There is a hollow on the
top of the mound likely to be the result of past excavation, although this
has been infilled subsequently. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from
which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. The
ditch is visible as an earthwork 2m wide and about 0.25m deep.

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.

The bowl barrow 570m south east of Heatherdown survives well and will
contain archaeological evidence relating to the monument and the landscape
in which it was constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 454

Source: Historic England