Monument record MDO1169 - Enclosure, Hampton Plantation, Frampton

Earthwork remains of a probable Iron Age or Romano-British valley enclosure with a bank and outer ditch on the west, north and south sides is visible on aerial photographs.

Valley enclosure. <2>

North of Hampton Plantations is a nearly rectangular earthwork, 140 x 55 yds, with a bank and outer ditch on the west side and ends; on the east side there is a berm only. There is no sign of interior walls except a short bank across the south-west angle. Apparently a farm settlement. <3>

A weak grass-covered valley entrenchment correctly described in Authy 3. It is set with its East and West sides part way up the slopes and approximately parallel to the contours of a valley which runs NNW-SSE. The only trace of a possible original entrance is at 'A' where there is a 3.0 metres wide causeway across the ditch. There is no trace of stonework or of a building platform, and there were no findsin rabbit scrapes. The east side is a terrace. The west side is strongest and here average measurements are - bank 2.7m wide, ditch 2.8m wide. Top of the bank to bottom of the ditch 0.6m. <4>

SY 63129256. This enclosure is now in very poor condition; though its eastern and western banks can be traced in part, some stretches have disappeared altogether. Low banks, still visible at the northernand southern ends (see plan), are 4.0m wide and 0.3m high. It is difficult to account for the deterioration of this earthwork since 1954, because it is said by the farmer to have been unploughed for at least fifty years. Implied as probably IA/RB by RCHM. Re-surveyed at 1:2500 on M.S.D. <5>

Earthwork remains of a probable Iron Age or Romano-British valley enclosure with a bank and outer ditch on the west, north and south sides is visible on aerial photographs, located 200m north of Hampton Plantation. <6>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1927-38 (Map). SWX1540.

(Centred SY 63139256) Earthwork (NR)

<2> DCM, Annotated Record Map Corr. 6 Dorset Co Museum (Anon udt.) (Map). SWX2335.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 117 (Monograph). SDO97.

'(23) Enclosure, in a small valley, N. of Hampton Plantations and 1½ m. S.S.E. of the church, is roughly rectangular 140 by 55 yards with a bank and outer ditch on the W. side and ends; on the E. side there is a berm only. There are no traces of walls within the enclosure except a short bank carried across the S.W. angle. It would appear to have been a farm-settlement, similar to those in Little Bredy.'

<4> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F1 JR 11-SEP-54 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<5> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F2 JGB 10-APR-81 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<6> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 3266-68 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11177.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 453729 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 26 2023 3:51PM