Monument record MDO45155 - Medieval hollow way, Tarrant Monkton

A probable medieval hollow way is visible to the east of Tarrant Monkton as earthworks and cropmarks on aerial photographs and current Environment Agency lidar imagery. The feature was digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM project.

(ST 94740903-ST 95430864) Broad ditch about 20 paces wide with bank on N side. <1> A broad hollow-way, the SE portion of which runs across a ploughed field towards an old chalk pit. Ploughing has destroyed any signs of a bank on its N side. The NW portion of the hollow-way is less well-defined. Here it runs across a field which has been ploughed but is now under grass. <2> The probably Medieval hollow way referred to above <1-2> is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs taken in 1946 but has subsequently been ploughed level. The hollow way comprises a central linear ditch, most of which is flanked to either side by linear banks, each measuring up to 20m wide. The hollow way extends roughly north-west/south east for 1140m, between ST 9467 0913 and ST 9563 0851. The north-western end appears to curve northwards slightly after crossing the Roman road. The hollow way shares the same orientation as several of the field boundaries within the surrounding Celtic field system, which could perhaps indicate an early date. It is roughly aligned on, and may therefore have joined, Weekley Lane which is marked to the south-east on the 1888 map, around ST 9673 0804. The hollow way had been ploughed flat on aerial photographs taken in 1969, with only the central ditch visible as a cropmark. <3> A probable medieval hollow way is visible to the east of Tarrant Monkton as earthworks and cropmarks/soilmarks on aerial photographs and current Environment Agency lidar imagery <4-9>. The feature comprises a central linear ditch with flanking banks for most of its length, running for almost 1600m in total. The feature may originate from the direction of High Street, to the northwest - a very faint ditched line is visible as a soilmark on a 1999 aerial photograph <7>. NRHE Hob UID 209276 records that the hollow way alternatively runs south off Turner's Lane along the west side of the Roman Road between Bath and Bradbury Rings - a strong ditch line is visible as a soilmark on a 1999 aerial photograph and as an earthwork on lidar imagery on the west side of the Roman Road, although this may rather be a section of the outer ditch flanking the Roman Road itself <7, 9>. The hollow way does cross the line of the Roman Road in a northwest to southeast direction, running southeastwards across the fields towards a triangular crossroads between intersecting lanes, one of which is recorded as 'Common Drove' on the OS 1st Edition map <10>. A post medieval chalk pit (MDO27163) cuts the feature at this point <4, 5>. Beyond the crossroads the feature is visible as faint earthworks on lidar imagery, where it appears to continue south eastwards as a faint ditch - a flanking bank on its north section at this point may be the remains of a historic hedge, visible on a 1947 aerial photograph, since removed, which may originally have formed part of the feature <4>. It may continue as a lane recorded as Weekly Lane on an OS map dated 1960 <11>. The feature was digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM project.

Record last edited

Feb 2 2023 4:20PM