Monument record MDO7846 - Bell barrow on Old Knowle, Moreton

A bell barrow, one of three barrows on a prominent natural knoll. In 1970 this monument was recorded as around 90 feet in diameter with a mound 11 feet high, surrounded by a flat area or berm about 7 feet wide. A hollow in the top of the mound may be the result of antiquarian investigation or small-scale quarrying. This barrow is likely to have had a ditch, but this is obscured by a later tree-clump enclosure which now encircles it.

A bell barrow, one of three barrows on a prominent natural knoll. In 1970 this monument was recorded as around 90 feet in diameter with a mound 11 feet high, surrounded by a flat area or berm about 7 feet wide. A hollow in the top of the mound may be the result of antiquarian investigation or small-scale quarrying. This barrow is likely to have had a ditch, but this is obscured by a later tree-clump enclosure which now encircles it. <3> `A' SY 79888777. Bell barrow of overall diameter 46.0m, height 4.8m maximum above ditch. Maximum width of berm 3.0m, but average 2.0 - 2.5m. Tree-clump enclosure bank and ditch 6.5m wide overall; bank 1.0m high and ditch 0.5m deep. Mound damaged on W side. Trees now removed. Very prominently sited on knoll-top. Published Surveys (1:2500) revised on MSD. <4> The Bronze Age barrow is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs and lidar imagery <6-7>. The barrow is sub-circular and surrounded by a narrow ditch. It measures 33 m in diameter. A depression is visible in the top of the mound, probably the result of a past excavation. This site was digitally plotted as part of the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project. A bell barrow and two bowl barrows situated on a natural hill known as Old Knowle. The bell barrow is situated on the western side of the group. It has a central mound composed of sand, earth and turf, with maximum dimensions of 25 metres in diameter and approximately 3 metres in height. The mound has a hollow 6 metres by 7 metres on the top, which may indicate antiquarian excavation. The mound is surrounded by a berm and a ditch from which material was quarried for the construction of the mound. The ditch is visible as a depression 7 metres wide, although it is partly overlain by a later bank which may represent a tree clump enclosure. The two bowl barrows are situated to the east of the bell barrow and are aligned north west by south east. The north western bowl barrow has a mound with maximum dimensions of 16 metres in diameter and approximately 2 metres in height. This is surrounded by a quarry ditch 2 metres wide and approximatey 0.35 metres deep. The south eastern bowl barrow has a mound 8 metres in diameter and approximately 0.8 metres high. This is known to be surrounded by a quarry ditch visible in the 1960s. The ditch has since become infilled but will survive as a buried feature 1.5 metres wide. <8>

Record last edited

Aug 24 2023 1:32PM