Monument record MDO4586 - Prehistoric field system on Pimperne Down, Gunville Down and Tarrant Hinton Down

Fragmentary remains of prehistoric fields found across the northern part of Pimperne Down and into Gunville Down and Tarrant Hinton Down. Most of the remains have been ploughed out and many of the fields are now fragmentary. A bank and ditched field system is visible as cropmarks and low earthworks on aerial photographs and lidar imagery immediately to the north of the enclosure described in MDO4564; it is part of a much wider system of prehistoric fields

An area, centred at ST 895102, of well defined field banks and lynchets from 0.5m to 1.5m high. On the lower W slopes of Gunville Down at ST 900118 are fragmentary lynchets and field banks probably of Iron Age/Romano-British origin. <1> On Gunville Down (ST 904119) and extending into Pimperne (ST 904117) are the remains of 'Celtic' fields, now heavily ploughed. They are notably rectangular and elongated (though some internal divisions may have disappeared) with the long axes aligned NW to SE. <2> 'Celtic' fields, now much damaged by ploughing, survive on Pimperne Down (ST 895104), on the SE slope of a dry valley. They extend in a narrow band NE from the Iron Age enclosure (ST 80 NE 6) towards Pimperne Fox Warren (ST 900109). Most of those fields which are complete vary in area between a quarter of an acre and half an acre. <2-4> Faint traces of fields are also visible E of Pimperne Wood (ST 912118). <5> A rapid examination of air photography suggests that the field system extends further southeast, towards the A354. <6> Part of the field system was crossed by a gas-pipeline exposing a V-shaped ditch 0.75m wide and 0.18m deep at ST 908121. <7> Ditches seen as cropmarks that may represent a continuation of this field system. Seen as cropmarks in 2007 aerial photography.<8> A bank and ditched field system is visible as cropmarks and low earthworks on aerial photographs and lidar imagery immediately to the north of the enclosure described in MDO4564 <9-13>; it is part of a much wider system of prehistoric fields.

Record last edited

Apr 10 2024 3:53PM