Monument record MDO3103 - Enclosure, Winterborne Monkton

A penannular earthwork enclosure closely associated with the Lanceborough group of barrows. Visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs {1}. The site was digitally plotted during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project.

Probably not a barrow, although possibly related to pond barrows. <1> Enclosure, horseshoe-shaped (SY 66658920) associated with Lanceborough Group of barrows (SY 68 NE 26). It measures overall about 150 ft. east to west and about 93 ft. north to south. The bank, apparently of chalk rubble, is broken by an entrance on theeast. There is no sign of an external ditch but the site has been heavily ploughed. <2> SY 667893. Group of round barrows N of Maiden Castle. Scheduled. <3> Survives as a ploughed down horse-shoe-shaped bank 9.0m in width and 0.3m in height. Resurveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. <4> A penannular earthwork enclosure closely associated with the Lanceborough group of barrows. Visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs <6>. The site was digitally plotted during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project. In 1955 the Ordnance Survey described it as a grass-coverred horse-shoe shaped earthwork with an opening 5 metres wide at the eastern end. It featured a spread bank circa 9 metres wide and up to 0.6 metres high, enclosing an area 27 metres by 31 metres. At the western end are two rather angular corners. There is no sign of an internal or external ditch. A penannular earthwork enclosure closely associated with the Lanceborough group of barrows (SY 68 NE 26 and associated monuments) located to the north of Maiden Castle (SY 68 NE 7 and associated monuments). In 1955 the Ordnance Survey described it as a grass-coverred horse-shoe shaped earthwork with an opening 5 metres wide at the eastern end. It featured a spread bank circa 9 metres wide and up to 0.6 metres high, enclosing an area 27 metres by 31 metres. At the western end are two rather angular corners. There is no sign of an internal or external ditch. Grinsell regarded it as a possible pond barrow, listing it as his Winterborne Monkton 1a, though he felt that on balance it probably wasn't a barrow at all. RCHME clearly felt it wasn't a barrow, listing it merely as an enclosure. It has, nonetheless, been scheduled as a "fancy barrow". The site has also been described as "hengiform" (Woodward 1991).

Record last edited

Nov 14 2023 11:35AM