Scheduled Monument: Bell barrow on Blackhill Clump 470m north of Mintern's Ferry (SM29052)

EXTRACT FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE'S RECORD OF SCHEDULED MONUMENTS MONUMENT: Bell barrow on Blackhill Clump 470m north of Mintern's Ferry PARISH: BERE REGIS DISTRICT: PURBECK COUNTY: DORSET NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 29052 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SY84049368 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument includes a bell barrow situated on a knoll known as Blackhill Clump, overlooking the Piddle Valley to the south west. The barrow is situated 500m south east of the broadly contemporary round barrow cemetery on Blackhill. The barrow has a central mound composed of sand, earth and turf with maximum dimensions of 20m in diameter and c.1.5m in height. The mound is surrounded by a berm or gently sloping platform 8m wide, and by a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. This has become infilled, but will survive as a buried feature 3m wide. There are fragmentary remains of a bank c.0.2m high around the edge of the berm to the north east and across the buried ditch in the north west. This is likely to represent the remains of a tree ring enclosure which has since been disturbed by gravel workings. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE Bell barrows, the most visually impressive form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating to the Early and Middle Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 1500-1100 BC. They occur either in isolation or in round barrow cemeteries and were constructed as single or multiple mounds covering burials, often in pits, and surrounded by an enclosure ditch. The burials are frequently accompanied by weapons, personal ornaments and pottery and appear to be those of aristocratic individuals, usually men. Bell barrows (particularly multiple barrows) are rare nationally, with less than 250 known examples, most of which are in Wessex. Their richness in terms of grave goods provides evidence for chronological and cultural links amongst early prehistoric communities over most of southern and eastern England as well as providing an insight into their beliefs and social organisation. As a particularly rare form of round barrow, all identified bell barrows would normally be considered to be of national importance. Depsite some quarrying around the periphery, the bell barrow on Blackhill Clump survives well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. SCHEDULING HISTORY Monument included in the Schedule on 26th October 1954 as: COUNTY/NUMBER: Dorset 188 NAME: Blackhill Clump barrow The reference of this monument is now: NATIONAL MONUMENT NUMBER: 29052 NAME: Bell barrow on Blackhill Clump 470m north of Mintern's Ferry SCHEDULING AFFIRMED ON 17th April 1997

Record last edited

Apr 21 2011 12:25PM