Monument record MDO41566 - Possible post medieval extractive pit, Corfe Mullen

A possible post medieval extractive pit on open heathland to the southwest of Corfe Mullen is visible on 1940s aerial photographs. Similar features are visible across large parts of the Dorset heathland, typically situated within areas of both post medieval extraction and early 20th Century military activity. It is often hard to positively identify these small banked and ditched features with one or the other, although some are more clearly military in origin. This feature may be modern military in character; a weapons pit for example, but given an absence of similar features is considered more likely to be of post medieval extractive origin. The feature is now under the later Corfe Mullen Clay Pit. It was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

A possible post medieval extractive pit on open heathland to the southwest of Corfe Mullen is visible on 1940s aerial photographs (1-2). The feature comprises an irregular sub-circular 6m wide banked enclosure with a 3.5m by 1.5m hollow centre. Similar features are visible across large parts of the Dorset heathland, typically situated within areas of both post medieval extraction and early 20th Century military activity. It is often hard to positively identify these small banked and ditched features with one or the other, although some are more clearly military in origin. This feature may be modern military in character; a weapons pit for example, but given an absence of similar features is considered more likely to be of post medieval extractive origin. The site is under the Corfe Mullen Clay Pit on current Google Earth imagery and the feature is no longer visible. It was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

Record last edited

Aug 31 2018 3:02PM