Monument record MDO45423 - Probable post medieval field boundaries, Tarrant Monkton

Banked linear features are visible as cropmarks and earthworks to the east of Tarrant Monkton on a 1980 aerial photograph and current Environment Agency lidar imagery. The features align on the Roman road to the west but also with the historic field pattern, where they appear to correspond, and intersect, with field boundaries recorded on pre-war and post-war OS mapping, filling in the historic field pattern. On balance they are considered likely to be field boundaries of post medieval to possibly modern date. The features were digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM project.

A possible field system, possibly or Roman date, is visible as soilmarks on aerial photographs. The site is centred at ST 9516 0881 and comprises several straight and angular ditches, each measuring between 10m and 30m wide, which appear to form a pattern of conjoined rectilinear enclosures, which are perhaps fields. The site extends over an area that measures 810m long by 510m wide and is orientated NNW / SSE. The fields each measure between 140 and 230m wide and up to 300m long. The possible fields are morphologically very different to the "Celtic" field systems identified locally (eg ST 90 NE 11 / UID: 209273) which suggests they are of a different date. They appear to abut and share the same NNW / SSE orientation of the Roman Road from Badbury Rings to Kingston Deverill (Linear 511 / UID: 1054628) to the west. This could suggest that the fields are contemporary with the road or were laid out later but still respecting the road. The fields are also crossed by or cross a Medieval hollow way (see ST 90 NE 12 / UID: 209276) although the actual chronological relationship is not clear on the aerial photographs. <1> Banked linear features are visible as cropmarks and earthworks to the east of Tarrant Monkton on a 1980 aerial photograph and current Environment Agency lidar imagery [1, 2]. The features form several large rectilinear enclosures that align on the Roman road to the west but also with the historic field pattern, where they appear to correspond, and intersect, with field boundaries recorded on pre-war and post-war OS mapping, filling in the historic field pattern [3, 4]. On balance they are considered likely to be field boundaries of post medieval to possibly modern date. The features were digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM project.

Record last edited

Feb 1 2023 7:02PM