Monument record MDO169 - Medieval strip lynchets on Mintern's Hill, Beaminster

Medieval strip lynchets on Mintern's Hill, Beaminster. They form part of a wider system of medieval strip fields and were digitally plotted from lidar imagery and aerial photographs during the Marshwood Vale NMP.

Lynchets form several groups on the south slope of Mintern's Hill. <2> Four cuttings were made in the Higher Meerhay lynchets in 1904, under the direction of Dr. Colley March. Two cultural periods were clearly indicated, separated by an interval of short duration. Prior to the first period, the terrace had been flattened at a remote time by the removal of chalk from a higher to a lower level. (2) Three contiguous areas of parallel, contour-following strip lynchets, as follows:- A. ST 489033 Long and pronounced under grass and scrub. Set on a hillside and not well developed. B. ST 491031. Well developed grass-covered lynchets, parallel and contour following. Probably the lynchets excavated in 1904. C. ST 492029. Pronounced but scrappy lynchets under grass and scrub. All three areas of lynchets are visible on air photographs. <3> A series of medieval strip lynchets are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs and lidar imagery on the southern slopes of Mintern's Hill <4-6> They run roughly east-west from Stintford Lane to Higher Meerhay Farm. They form part of a wider system of medieval strip fields and were digitally plotted during the Marshwood Vale NMP.

Record last edited

Nov 14 2022 12:36PM