The Bull Ring Henge and Adjacent Barrows

The Bull Ring at Dove Holes is an oval henge with opposing northern and southern entrances. Its bank and ditch enclose an area roughly fifty-three by forty-six metres, while the overall earthwork measures about ninety metres across. Beside it lies an oval barrow with a later bowl barrow at its western end, preserving a sequence of burial construction. The barrows have not been excavated, so their precise dates and contents remain uncertain. Investigations of the henge include Salt’s work in 1902, Alcock’s excavation in 1949 and Barnatt’s work in 1984. Ploughing, quarrying and later disturbance damaged parts of the earthworks; a wartime slit trench also affected the barrow summit. An eighteenth-century report of a standing stone has encouraged suggestions of an internal stone circle, but that interpretation has not been established archaeologically. Period: Neolithic henge and oval barrow; later prehistoric bowl barrow Grid reference: SK 07846 78237 Protection: Scheduled monument Source: Historic England, https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1011204 (Open Government Licence). © Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.