Riddles of the RidgewayDiscover a South Dorset landscape with 5000 years of history…still there to explore today

A Bronze Age funeral at Bincombe Down, South Dorset

From the earliest timesPrehistoric monuments and earthworksare visible across much of the Dorsetlandscape but especially in south andwest Dorset. To many people theseancient earthworks are simply ‘lumpsand bumps’ in the ground. Over time,many have been eroded by the ploughand the ever constant need to farm the land.

But, have you ever asked yourself how,when and why they were constructed?What did they look like when firstbuilt? Have they changed over the centuries? What was life like for ourancient Dorset forebears?

We still know relatively little about thepeople who built these monumentsand what we do know comes partlyfrom the interest (and excavation)shown by the antiquarians of the 18thand 19th centuries. By today’s standards,their excavation methods were crude

and as a consequence, much valuableinformation was lost. Modern methodsare far more sensitive and thorough. In fact, many of the structures that wenow know existed cannot be seenbecause they have been totallyploughed away. Evidence for theirexistence has only been revealed bypainstaking excavation.

These early archaeologists referred tothe earthworks as tumuli; now they areknown as barrows. Many books and articles have been written on the subjectand excavations in the past 40 yearshave also added to our knowledge butthere is still much that we don’t know. It is difficult to imagine what life was like here 4000 years agowhen our main source of information is the waythey dealt with their dead. Poor Lot Round Barrows

Early 20th Century excavation

10,500 BC 10,000 BC 9,500 BC

M E S O L I T H I C P E R I O D

The particular landscape of intereststretches from Broadmayne in the eastto Kingston Russell in the west. This is abroad ridge (capped by acid gravels atBlack Down) of chalky downlandknown as the South Dorset Ridgeway.There is a steep escarpment on thesouth side and a gently sloping landscapeto the north. Within this area (some 14square miles) at least 500 earthworkshave so far been identified.

Experts talk about the Neolithic, theBronze Age and the Iron Age, but people and cultures changed onlygradually as the centuries passed andso these periods should not be thought

of as rigid partitions. The Neolithicrefers to approximately 4200 - 2200 BC.

Our story begins with the building of a‘causewayed camp’ on the east end ofthe hill now occupied by MaidenCastle. Causewayed camps consisted ofone or more enclosing ditches withbanks. The ditches are not continuousbut have ’causeways’ across them. They seem to have been used as ceremonial and ritual meeting placesrather than for domestic occupation.These are amongst the earliest monumental constructions in southernEngland and date from 4 - 3000 BC.

The monument most commonly associated with the Neolithic period isthe ‘long barrow’ and the south DorsetRidgeway boasts at least 10 of them!Long barrows are elongated (often 100metres) earth and stone mounds. Somehave a burial chamber, often stone-built,and this may explain why seven ofthem are clustered on the Ridgewaynorth of Portesham as there is a largestony outcrop known as the ‘Valley ofStones’ nearby. The sheer size and complexity of these structures suggestsa level of organisation among Neolithicpeoples that had been hithertounknown. Perhaps each familygroup had a tomb in whichthe bones of their dead weredeposited. The long barrowswere in use during the middle Neolithic period;broadly 3200 to 2600 BC.

Bronkham Hill, South Dorset Ridgeway

Maiden Castle (causewayed camp)

Long Bredy Bank Barrow

00 BC 9,000 BC 8,500 BC 8,000 BC

P E R I O D

Three unusually long mounds existfrom this early period, known to

archaeologists as ‘bank barrows’. The eastern bank barrow is at

Came Down (SY703853 seeabove) and the western bankbarrow is on Martin’s Downnear Long Bredy (SY 573910).The third (and the longest at545 metres) is situated alongthe spine of Maiden Castle hilltop and running across into theearlier causewayed enclosure.They do not seem to be

associated with burial and mayhave defined the boundaries of

land ownership.

So, for about a thousand years, theinhabitants of the Ridgeway had builtlinear monuments mainly for the burialof their dead, but things were about tochange. In the middle of the third millennium BC the causewayed campsand the long barrows were deliberatelysealed and a new type of earthworkwas constructed - the ‘henge’. An external, circular bank and ditch (orseries of pits) enclosed a variety ofstructures either in stone or in wood.The most famous example nationally, isStonehenge.

The henge enclosure at MaumburyRings is still visible albeit much alteredby the Romans (for use as an amphitheatre) and 1600 years later, as

a Civil War fort. Excavations here in1909 revealed that the structure was infact a circle of shafts with an externalbank. There is an example of a massivehenge enclosure (although totallyploughed over) at Mount Pleasant tothe east of Dorchester. Several others

have now been identified in andaround Dorchester e.g. at DorchesterMiddle School. Like the causewayedenclosures before them, their functionwas most probably as a meeting placefor ceremony and ritual.

7,500 BC 7,000 BC 6,500 BC

M E S O L I T H I C P E R I O D

The Broadmayne Bank Barrow

Nine Stones stone circle near Winterbourne Abbas

Maumbury Rings today

Into the Bronze Age…At the same time as the henges werebeginning to appear, a major change inburial practice was gradually takingplace. There was a shift of emphasisaway from communal burials towardsindividual burials. Long barrows ceased to be used and instead the now familiar round barrows began toappear all along the chalky ridge andmostly above the 125m contour. Thesebarrows were constructed over a thousand year period (2600BC to1600BC). The tradition of burying a

special vessel with thedead person inthe earliest ofthese burialsled to the people beingcalled ‘Beakerfolk’. A similar

contemporary pattern of behaviour hasbeen identified across northern Europefrom Spain to the Rhineland.

It is interesting to speculate whetherthese ideas spread (through trading forexample) in a cultural process similar tothe spread of ripples in a pond. Dare we suggest that there was perhaps a ‘EuropeanCommunity’ with distanttrading contacts 4000 yearsbefore our own ‘EC’ wasset up?

The burial custom alsoincluded the burying of daggers and beads and thus the earliest metal objects found inBritain are from Bronze Age graves.Some of these burials were particularly rich and containedsmall items made of gold.Antiquarians and ‘diggers’ of thenineteenth century were excited bythe prospect of rich and enigmaticfinds and so barrow diggingbecame a popular pursuit in

Regency and Victorian England. Theexcavators recorded valuable information (albeit piecemeal) when

they cut into the centres of the mounds

and we can still see the deep indentations they cut even today. Someof the rich finds can be viewed atthe Dorset County Museum

in Dorchester.

Yet another major culturaltransition took place from the

mid-second millennium BC.Barrows were generally no longer

built (although earlier ones were frequently re-used). Examples of middle-late Bronze Age burials areassociated with a particular form ofpottery known as Deverel-Rimburyware. Rimbury urn field was located tothe south of Bincombe Hill nearWeymouth and an incense cupfrom this location (now in theBritish Museum) gave itsname to this type of pottery.We see also the development of the Deverel-Rimbury tradition: viz the first settlement cremationcemeteries.

00 BC 6,000 BC 5,500 BC 5,000 BC

P E R I O D

Pure Gold lozenge from Clandon Barrow

Britain becomes an island

Bronkham Hill from Hardy’s Monument

Poor Lot barrow group

Poor Lot group from the roadside of the A35

Round barrows near Gould’s Hillon the South West Coast Path

2 Bowl barrows on Gould’s Hill

Bincombe ‘bumps’ from the air

Broadmayne Bank barrow group from the air

3 Ditched Bowl Barrows at NorthdownBarn near Broadmayne

4,000 BC 3,000 BC 2,300 BCBank and Long barrows

Cremations (the remains placed in urns)and burial without a mound becamethe accepted custom.

In other parts of Dorset (CranborneChase for example) there is evidence of field boundaries. Although this agricultural development is not obvious on the Ridgeway, it does suggest that late Bronze Age peoplewere beginning to create an enduringfarming landscape.

…and so to the firstmillennium BCIn the later Bronze Age, new

settlements and new ideasemerged. The tradition of

barrow burial had ceasedby the beginning of the Iron Age (circa800BC). Concurrently,the construction of hillforts began. Two of

the earliest in the country

are at Abbotsbury (SY 555865) andChalbury (SY 694838) near Weymouth.

Early hillforts were small in comparison to later examples such asMaiden Castle and Hambledon Hill.Some hillforts were initially small butwere enlarged later. A substantialdegree of social organisation wasneeded to construct these earthworks.

We know little of the political structureof the period but the tribal centre canbe identified as the massive hill fort atMaiden Castle (SY 669885). By the timethe Romans arrived, the tribal structureand cohesion was such that the Roman mathematician and geographer,Ptolemy, writing some 100 years afterthe invasion, was able to refer to the

tribe as ‘the Durotriges’. Durotrigianterritory extended from the modernDevon / Dorset border to HengistburyHead (near modern day Christchurch)and up to the Bristol Channel.

Thus the period of monumental earthwork construction along theSouth Dorset Ridgeway came to anend. In spite of the enormous effortneeded to construct the hillforts, theyproved no match for the invadingRoman army of AD43. The Romans diduse Hod Hill for a short time andEggardon Hill remained occupied butthe era of the Hillfort effectively ceasedwith the Roman invasion.

Astonishingly, our Ridgeway landscapestill bears the outward signs of thisremarkable 4000 years of Dorset’s history and much of it is there for youto see, to learn fromand enjoy! Read onto discover howyou can find outmore!!

Chalbury hillfort, North side

Maiden Castle, ramparts at eastern entrance

N E O L I T H I C P E R I O D

00 BC 2,000 BC 1,000 BC 800 BC

B R O N Z E A G Ew

Round barrowsHill Forts

The project comprises a series of events and activities that are variouslyenlightening, informative, engaging,entertaining and exciting. The project’s aim is to help you find outmore about the area’s amazing ancienthistory, and where to get out andabout amongst it. This is being donethrough a focus on survey & research,access & interpretation, celebrationand working with schools.

The project is supported by theHeritage Lottery Fund, and is part of the work of the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural BeautyPartnership.

Survey & Research…Part of the project is to investigate and record more about this specialarea, and there are a number of opportunities for volunteers.

Bournemouth University are carryingout a number of geophysical surveysof some barrow groups. In other partsof the county, this type of work hasrevealed more barrows and ancientstructures that are no longer visible on the surface. There are a limitednumber of places for volunteers towork alongside students on this work.

Over the project period we want yourhelp to record people’s impressions,memories and tales about theRidgeway area. There is a wealth of

legends and stories surrounding themonuments and their setting. Thereare opportunities for volunteers to be trained in the use of equipment andinterview techniques, and to go outand record these tales and memoriesfor posterity.

The project is also gathering information about old field names,interesting historical events and moreon a parish scale. Dorset History Centrehas a wealth of records for volunteersto investigate. The aim is to make someparish maps, showing the importantand interesting sites.

For more information on volunteeringfor research, contact the RidgewayProject Officer on 01305 756782

D

500 BC 43 AD 500 AD

The Romans arrive

Access & Interpretation…The surveys and research being

carried out will increase our knowledgeof the area. This information is goingto be available via the website, printedmaterial, talks and organised walks.All events are publicised on the DorsetAONB website and in the local TouristInformation Centres.

The Ridgeway area is criss-crossed by lots of public rights of way, for walking, cycling and riding. We’republishing some circular walks that willtake you past some of the best monuments in this beautiful landscape.

We’re not great fans of informationboards in the open countryside, so the interpretation produced shall beportable – like printed material – or electronic. Look out for podcastdownloads or telephone trails to illustrate and illuminate your walks and wanderings.

Celebration…It’s not all serious stuff! The Ridgewayarea is so unique that we’re planningto make a song and dance about it.Look out for various events such as

• Storytelling and poetry: Hear sometales about the Ridgeway - such aswhispering barrow. If you put your earto one magical barrow, you are supposedto hear the whispering voices of fairies…

• Art exhibitions: The Ridgeway areahas been an inspiration to many artists– through the project there will beexhibitions of their work.

• Art workshops: Have a go yourself!Join an artist for a day to look at theRidgeway through a different pair of eyes.

• Re-enactments: Making the Ridgeway’shistory come to life, there will be a chance to see the Romans inDorchester or some Iron Age peopledefending Maiden Castle.

Schools…If you are a teacher or pupil at a schoolin the area, we have got some excitingopportunities for you and your schoolto get involved with the Ridgeway.We’re working with education specialists to make sure they are relevant to the curriculum.

• Field trips: We can provide transportto get school groups out and aboutaround some of the Ridgeway’s sites,and we can provide an expert guide.

• Classroom materials: We’re puttingtogether boxes of artefacts related tothe ancient history of the Ridgeway, aswell as learning activities, whiteboardmaterials and much more. We can comeinto schools to help teachers with theselessons, and we can also provide trainingfor teachers to deliver them alone.

To find out more about any of theseactivities and events, see the Ridgewaypages on the Dorset AONB website(www.dorsetaonb.org.uk) or call01305 756782 to speak to theRidgeway Project Officer

I R O N A G E

The Past on YourDoorstep

The Dorset HistoricEnvironment Record is a record of allknown archaeological finds and features and historic building in the county. It is growing and being up-dated constantly, as newinformation is discovered and in thelight of changing archaeological theories. Play your part in this processby reporting chance finds and observations, contributing the resultsof your own research, taking part inorganised documentary and field survey exercises, or by joining our network of parish Historic EnvironmentLiaison Officers. If you have a project inmind, but aren’t sure where to start,get in touch – we may be able to helpwith tips and useful contacts.

For information and advice, contact the Dorset County Council HistoricEnvironment team on 01305 224921 orvisit www.dorsetforyou.com/her

0 AD 1,000 AD 1,500 AD 2,000 AD

If you would like to view some of the artefacts discovered in theRidgeway barrows then visit the

Dorset County Museum in Dorchester Tel: 01305 262735 for opening times

Help look after the landscape:• Keep to public rights of way and never

walk through crops; remember; grass is a crop too!

• Keep your dog under control and clean up after it

• Close all gates unless already tied open• Take your litter home.…it spoils every

one’s enjoyment of the countryside• Guard against all risks of fire….especially

in hot, dry weather and on heathland sites• Don’t trample wild flowers or disturb

birds and other animals• Help reduce traffic by walking, cycling

or using public transport• Stay local, eat local, buy local….

buying local goods and services helps to support the AONB and its communitiesAnglo-Saxon burial

with dagger, Maiden Castle

Contact us:Dorset AONB PartnershipAONB Office The BarracksBridport Road DorchesterDorset DT1 1RN

Tel: 01305 756782Fax: 01305 756780E-mail: dorsetaonb@dorsetcc.gov.ukor visit: www.dorsetaonb.org.uk

We gratefully acknowledge the assistance and co-operation of a number of organisations and individuals in scoping and launching this project: English Heritage, Dorset County Council, The DCC HistoricEnvironment Team, The Dorset Countryside Ranger Service, The Countryside Agency, English Nature, Dorset County Museum, The Dorset History Centre, The National Trust, Ms Jane Brayne, Dr BillPutnam, Richard Crumbleholme and the landowners and farmers of the Ridgeway. The images of the artefacts are kindly provided by the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society at the DorsetCounty Museum. Other images courtesy of Francesca Radcliffe, Tony Flux, Mark Simons and Bill Crumbleholme. The centre page map is adapted from the map included within the Royal Commission onHistorical Monuments: Dorset, Vol 2, part 3 (1970).

If you would like to learn more about prehistoric Dorset; here arefour books you should consider reading:• Prehistoric Dorset by John Gale (2003) published by Tempus Books• The Prehistoric Age by Bill Putnam (1998), Dovecote Press• British Barrows, A Matter of Life and Death by Ann Woodward

(2000), Tempus Books• Dorset’s Archaeology by Peter Stanier (2004), Dorset Books

Front Cover IllustrationPainting Title: A Bronze Age funeral at Bincombe Down, South Dorset

At dawn, in the space between the two great barrows and their smaller neighbours, dancers circle around a collared urn containing the burnt remainsof one of their community. The shaman performs a rite of passage. Wearing acape of bright fox fur and a headdress of feathers, she swings a small potteryvessel, holding smoking incense, above the urn. The most distant barrow is beingprepared for the burial of the remains, while in the foreground, children watchthe ceremony as their mother stokes the fire and the funeral feast is laid ready.

This high place has an overwhelming atmosphere even now, despite the pylonsand the roads and Weymouth curving around the bay. How potent it musthave been when the land was barely tamed by the small groups of farmingpeople who raised these mounds.

Jane Brayne, Archaeological reconstruction artist.

All leaflets can be made available in audio tape, large print and Braille, or alternative languages on request. Please call 01305 756782 for further information.