Monument record MDO46160 - Round Barrow in the Ballard Down Group, Ballard Down, Swanage

Bronze Age round barrow, one of a group on Ballard Down, disturbed by military activity and reduced by ploughing.

Ballard Down Group of round barrows lie close together on the spine of the steep:sided chalk ridge. The area, built on the disturbed circa 1940, and now almost levelled by ploughing, contains numerous slight rises similarly marked by concentrations of stone rubble, making identification of barrows recorded here very difficult. The reasonably certain barrows are: 'E'-SZ 02788124. Bowl barrow, 8 paces diameter and 1ft high near parish boundary. )Grinsell's Swanage No.8 - not listed by RCHM). <2-3> Until recently, when it came to the National Trust, Ballard Down was regularly ploughed but it is now reverting to downland. Since the RCHM reported on this barrow group in 1970 (3) RCHM 84 (SZ 02728124) and RCHM 85 (SZ 02738123) have been ploughed out and only the faintest traces remain. RCHM 87 remains as described but is doubtfully a barrow. RCHM 86 (SZ 02748125) has a boundary stone on top, on the line of the fence seperating NTL from arable to the N, and only the N side is now surveyable. On grassland these 'features' are in bad condition, 160m OD. Surveyed at 1:2500. <4>

Record last edited

Apr 14 2023 7:15PM