Monument record MDO3504 - Medieval settlement remains at Winterborne Tomson, Anderson

The remains of medieval settlement covering around ten acres next to and to the south of the present hamlet of Winterborne Tomson. Though rather disturbed in places by quarrying, earthworks of a bank with external ditch, at least two house platforms, and traces of plot boundaries within the settlement have been identified. The extensive remains were digitally recorded during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM from lidar imagery.

Area of indistinct earthworks and ground disturbance at SY 886973 is probably associated with the former settlement. <2> The settlement remains, centred at SY 88479734, are visible over 240 metres as a fragmentary line of banked and scarped closes some 25.0 by 20.0 metres, and averaging 0.3 metres in height. One of the house platforms at SY 88479734 measures 5.2 by 14.7 metres and 0.5 metres high, and is in poor condition. Another at SY 88547933, is a little more than an indentation some 16.0 by 5.0 metres. A possible third is at SY 88409731. A hollow way lies north of the houses, but its uniformity suggests it is probably later than the houses. Accompanying closes end on the remains of a bank, 5.4 metres wide and up to 0.8 metres high, but with no ditch. Both ends terminate on extensive gravel workings which have also affected the closes. (See air photographs <2> and <3>). In the field west of the Church, (SY 89 NE 29) at SY 88429745, there are the probable remains of small fields averaging 37.0 by 17.0 metres, with banks and scarps up to 0.6 metres in height. There are no platforms, and disturbances visible on air photographs immediately to the south of a wide field drain, are small gravel pits. Narrow rig and furrow mentioned by <1> at SY 884977, north of the Church (SY 89 NE 29) and visible on air photographs <2> is now ploughed out, as is that previously centred at SY 887977 <4.1> in the field to the east. Closes and buildings surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. <4> The extensive remains of the deserted settlement were digitally recorded during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM from lidar imagery. The bank and ditched linear features include field boundaries, house platforms and plot boundaries. They cover an area of over 20 hectares in field surrounding Winterborne Tomson hamlet. <6>

Record last edited

Jun 24 2023 6:53PM