Monument record MDO5912 - Prehistoric enclosure in High Wood, Pamphill

A large oval enclosure measuring about 98m by 110m. Earthworks first noted during an archaeological survey by the National Trust of their Kingston Lacy Estate in 1988. Subsequent earthwork survey in 1992 by the RCHME revealed a sub-rectangular enclosure defined by a ditch with an external bank, categorised as a D-shaped enclosure of later Iron Age or early Romano-British date, though surface finds of worked flint suggested an earlier date was possible. Parts of the earthwork had been disturbed by quarrying. Excavation by Martin Papworth in 2008 confirmed a late Iron Age or early Romano-British date for the enclosure, and indicated that the quarries were themselves Romano-British in date. Other finds suggested that the enclosure had been created in an area of earlier Iron Age activity.

The enclosure and field system at High Wood Badbury was surveyed by staff of RCHME in 1991, for further information see archive collection. <2> A large oval enclosure measuring about 98m by 110m. Earthworks first noted during an archaeological survey by the National Trust of their Kingston Lacy Estate in 1988. Subsequent earthwork survey in 1992 by the RCHME revealed a sub-rectangular enclosure defined by a ditch with an external bank, categorised as a D-shaped enclosure of later Iron Age or early Romano-British date, though surface finds of worked flint suggested an earlier date was possible. Parts of the earthwork had been disturbed by quarrying. Excavation by Martin Papworth in 2008 confirmed a late Iron Age or early Romano-British date for the enclosure, and indicated that the quarries were themselves Romano-British in date. Other finds suggested that the enclosure had been created in an area of earlier Iron Age activity. The enclosure and later chalk pits are visible as earthworks under trees on lidar imagery <4> and were digitially plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour Catchment AI&M Project.

Record last edited

Feb 9 2023 3:10PM