Monument record MDO7999 - Bronze Age ditched bowl barrow, Ballard Down, Swanage

A ditched bowl barrow, the eastermost of a group of three barrows on Ballard Down. Excavation by Rev Austen in 1857 revealed primary contracted inhumation, a secondary infant inhumation, other bones and a collared urn. In 1967 the upper part of an inverted collared urn associated with bone fragments were recovered from the area of the mound.

SZ 04008130. Ditched Bowl barrow, 16 paces diameter and 4 1/2 feet high. Opened by J.H. Austen who found a primary inhumation - probably crouched. A secondary inhumation of an infant with other bones nearby were also found. An Early/Middle Bronze Age urn, probably collared, was also seen. <2-4> <6> Turf-covered and truncated bowl barrow, 15 metres in diameter and 1.4 metres high. Slight traces of an irregular ditch occupies the south and west quandrants. In the east the barrow is trenched. <5> SZ 03998129. (90) Ditched bowl barrow, 48 feet in diameter and 3 feet high. Excavated by Austen. (similar information as Authority 6). Two round barrows at the east end of Ballard Down. <7> No change to Authority 7 but National Grid Reference should read SZ 03998130 - Barrow on grassland, in good condition, 117 metres OD. Surveyed at 1:2500. <9> One of a group of three round barrows situated on Ballard Down. The bowl barrow is the southeastern barrow of the three and survives as an earthwork with a mound 15 metres in diameter and 1.0 metre high. Its ditch was visible as a slight earthworth during the 1960s. Partial excavation of the mound by J H Austin in 1857 located a primary inhumation and a secondary infant inhumation associated with animal bones and an urn. In 1967 the upper part of an inverted collared urn associated with bone fragments were recovered from the area of the mound. <11> The Bronze Age pond barrow is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs on Ballard Down <13>. The barrow is the easternmost of a group of three. The barrow is formed of a mound measuring 13 m in diameter, surrounded by a ditch measuring up to 2 m in width. This site was digitally plotted during the South West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (Dorset).

Record last edited

Apr 14 2023 6:33PM