Monument record MDO5030 - Rectangular enclosure, Keyneston Down, Tarrant Rawston

A rectangular enclosure first identified as a probable Roman fortlet was discovered by aerial photography. Subsequent topographic and geophysical survey have suggested this is unlikely and that this enclosure is either prehistoric or is a plantation boundary for a conifer plantation within Ashley Wood, as shown on historic maps. Later evaluation excavation demonstrated that the enclosure had a V-shaped ditch and some Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age pottery was recovered from its upper fill, suggesting it is probably a prehistoric enclosure. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water. The feature is visible as cropmarks and earthworks on aerial photographs and Environment Agency lidar imagery and was digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM Project.

Rectangular ditched enclosure at ST 926 056 revealed by crop marks. It is 51m by 42m, with a probable entrance in the NW side. Site visited by S Dunmore, November 1976. <1> A probable Roman fortlet at ST 92630559 has been identified on an air photograph taken by J R Boyden. It appears as a nearly square, single ditched enclosure with rounded corners. Although the land has been thoroughly ploughed, after ground examination the enclosure was found to occupy a well defined platform, about 2 ft high, and the ditch was 8 ft wide. There are indications of an internal bank and the platform appears artifically levelled. The enclosure measures 160 ft by 130 ft and has an area of 0.48 of an acre. No gates or causeways are visible and no pottery has been found. <2> The scheduling information suggests that the site may be a Roman fortlet but notes that this interpretation is uncertain. <4> ST 92620562 Tarrant Keyneston 30. Rectangular enclosure, area under 0.4ha on Keyneston Down. [Plans of comparable sites]. <3> <5> The air photograph published in authority 2 shows a rectangular enclosure with three rounded corners, but a sharp corner on the SE. There is no definite sign of an entrance, and identification as a Roman fortlet remains uncertain. <6> A topographic and geophysical survey of the rectangular enclosure on Keyneston Down, undertaken in 2007, produced some more information on the enclosure. It was revealed that the enclosure formed a slightly raised platform and was subrectangular in form with a single simple entrance offset in the north west side. A number of pit-like anomalies were identified within the enclosure. The form of the enclosure suggests it is less likely to be the remains of a Roman fortlet. Although no conclusive evidence for the date and purpose of the enclosure has been forthcoming, it is more likely to be either a prehistoric enclosure or a plantation enclosure. The enclosure formerly lay within Ashley Wood and historic map evidence shows that there was a small rectangular conifer plantation on the site of the enclosure in the nineteenth century. A fluxgate recorder survey undertaken as part of an undergraduate dissertation has shown that this is unlikely to be a Roman fortlet and is either a Late Iron Age enclosure or a 19th century wood bank from a tree plantation. The site appears to lack diagnostic typical features of Roman fortlets such as a centrally located entrance, clearly rounded corners and multivallate defences. It does however resemble an Iron Age enclosure at Lower Barn in Gloucestershire: however whilst there may be some features that could be interreted as rubbish pits within the enclosure there was no evidence for round-houses within it. Cartographic evidence suggests that the site was occupied by a square fir plantation by the mid 19th century. The dissertation contains numerous images from the survey and from comparative studies with other sites. <7> Geophysical survey along the proposed route of the Corfe Mullen to Salisbury Water Transfer Scheme in 2012 revealed a positive linear anomaly along the line of the north side of the enclosure (Anomaly 235). <8> Evaluation excavation in 2013 across the line of anomaly 235 revealed a V-shaped ditch (75002)about 4m wide and **m deep. Based on the character of the lower chalky fills, the excavators suggested there was a former bank along the southern side of the ditch. There appears to have been a later flat-bottomed recut of this ditch [based on the published section drawing, but not described by the excavators, P Bellamy 4/1/16] and another small gully (75006) cut into the top of the ditch. Five sherds of Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age pottery were recovered from the upper silting over the ditch. <9> The later prehistoric or Roman rectangular enclosure described above is recorded as cropmarks on 2015 Historic England oblique aerial photographs. A curved ditched boundary extends around and beyond the south and east sides of the enclosure. Pits within the enclosure could be the former location of trees or could relate to activity within the enclosure. <10> The feature is visible as cropmarks and earthworks on aerial photographs and Environment Agency lidar imagery where it appears to comprise a rectilinear ditched enclosure approximately 60m long by 54m wide, with a possible inner bank <11-13>. No certain entrance is identified but a possible gap on the northwest side may correlate with an entranceway. The features were digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM Project.

Record last edited

Jan 24 2023 4:21PM