Details

The monument includes a group of three bowl barrows aligned north east to
south west and situated on a north facing chalk ridge of the South Dorset
Downs, overlooking a dry valley to the east. The barrows form part of the
Longlands barrow cemetery which contains six round barrows focussed around an
earlier long barrow. The barrows all have central mounds composed of earth,
chalk and flint which vary between 13m and 30m in diameter and c.0.35m and
c.0.5m in height. The mounds are each surrounded by a ditch from which
material was quarried during their construction. These ditches are no longer
visible at ground level, as they have become infilled over the years. However,
they do survive as buried features c.1.5m wide around the smaller mounds and
5m around the largest barrow.
Excluded from the scheduling are all fence posts relating to the modern field
boundary, although the underlying ground is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise
closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds
covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a
considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as
a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit
considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including
several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier
long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them,
contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been
revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a
marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other
important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent
locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst
their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important
information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are
considered worthy of protection.

The three bowl barrows at Dry Wood survive comparatively well and will contain
archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the Longlands cemetery
and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 464
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 464
Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset: Volume I, (1970), 464
Other
Mention ditch showing as a soil mark,

Source: Historic England