Monument record MDO28046 - Rectangular Enclosure, Tarrant Rawston

Please read our .

Summary

A small rectangular enclosure identified from air photos, and adjacent to an Iron Age/Roman enclosed settlement. Ditched linear features associated with this enclosure are visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs dated 1976. The features suggest a larger enclosure than indicated by the original record, or a group of interlinked rectilinear enclosures. A ditch recorded under Hob UID 209453 may be part of this grouping. The features were digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM Project.

Map

Type and Period (1)

Full Description

'(4) Settlement Site (932066), or Iron Age or Romano-British date, lies at 275 ft. above O.D. on the crest, and on the E. slope at the S.E. end of a broad flat-topped Chalk spur which projects towards the Tarrant. Air photographs (N.M.R., ST 9306/1-5) show the soil-marks of a roughly circular enclosure some 700 ft. in diameter, bounded by a narrow ditch with traces of an inner bank; about two-thirds of the circle remain. Approaching the enclosure from the S.W. and traceable for 170 yds. are two parallel ditches, 20 ft. apart, perhaps representing a track; they appear, however, to butt against the ditch and there is no indication of an entrance. Soil-marks inside the enclosure indicate short lengths of narrow ditch, a ditched circular feature about 60 ft. in diameter, and a roughly traingular enclosure of just under ½ acre, bounded on the W. by the main ditch and on the N. and E. by lesser ditches. Immediately W. of the main enclosure are traces of a smaller, subrectangular ditched enclosure, about 120 ft. across.' [1] Ditched linear features associated with the subrectangular enclosure are visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs dated 1976. [2 and 3]. The features suggest a larger enclosure than indicated by the original record, or a group of two or three interlinked rectilinear enclosures approximatley 97m long by 68m wide overall. They were digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM Project. A ditch recorded under Hob UID 209453 may be part of this grouping.

Sources/Archives (3)

  • <1> Monograph: Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England). 1972. An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North). 111.
  • <2> Aerial Photograph: John Boyden. 08-JUL-1976. JRB 3304/7.
  • <3> Aerial Photograph: National Monuments Record. 08-APR-1976. NMR 915/27-32.

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Related Events/Activities (0)

Location

Grid reference Centred ST 9311 0666 (48m by 57m)
Map sheet ST90NW
Civil Parish Tarrant Rawston; Dorset
Unitary Authority Dorset

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Other Statuses/References

  • Legacy UID: Dorset Sites and Monuments Record: MDO28046
  • Legacy UID: National Monuments Record
  • Royal Commission Inventory Reference: Tarrant Rawston (4)

Record last edited

Sep 7 2022 2:56PM

Comments and Feedback

Do you have any questions or more information about this record? Please feel free to comment below with your name and email address. All comments are submitted to the website maintainers for moderation, and we aim to respond/publish as soon as possible. Comments, questions and answers that may be helpful to other users will be retained and displayed along with the name you supply. The email address you supply will never be displayed or shared.