Monument record MDO21627 - Iron Age/Romano-British field system, West Compton

A Celtic field system of Iron Age or Roman origin is visible as earthworks and cropmarks on aerial photographs.

A location of British settlement. <1> Field systems plotted from air photographs. <3> A Celtic field system along the scarp of a re-entrant valley on the Seof Eggardon Hill, half mile NW of Compton Abbas church. It covers about 65 acres and has well marked scarps. <4> Centred at SY 55309485. An area of pronounced field banks and lynchets forming irregular enclosures of Iron Age/Romano British type. The system has lynchets up to 3.0m high, and is under grass. No hut sites or evidence of habitation was found during investigation, and the description in Authy 2 appears to be incorrect. Visible on AP RAF/CPE/UK/2431 4152. <5> A good set of Celtic fields on slope of hill. The pattern of squarish shapes is very clear from the other side of the valley. <6> ST (Should be SY) 549948 - 560950. Lynchets W of Eggardon Hill Farm. <8> Celtic field fragments occur in most parts of the parish's downland which encircles the village. An elaborate series of main scarps remain from SY 557945 to SY 563948 although no settlement survives. The scarps continue to the W around the head of the combe and along the S side above the 600 ft contour (see SY 59 SE 1). Rarely are individual fields intact. Strip lynchets impinge at SY 552947 and some of the Celtic fields were reploughed in a post-medieval phase. <9> A Celtic field system of Iron Age or Roman origin is visible as earthworks and cropmarks on aerial photographs. Some field lynchets are marked on the OS 1st edition map (annotated 'British Village (Site of)').{1-4}

Record last edited

May 2 2023 4:56PM