Monument record MDO1224 - Enclosure, Halstock

Two fields, centred at ST 536087 on either side of a sunken road contain enclosures and earthworks visible on air photographs. <1>

'A' ST 53600872 A pasture field, situated on the S slope of a small valley, contains a sub-rectangular enclosure, 54m by 25m and 0.1 ha, formed by a bank, 0.2m high, and a ditch 0.2m deep. It lies alongside the sunken road and contains a house platform and is perhaps an outlying cottage similar to the 17th century pair opposite. There is a ditched enclosure, about 25m by 20m and 0.05 ha, linked to a probable field boundary, 2 amorphous hollows and a series of rectilinear drainage ditches to the SW. All are of minor importance and there seems no reason to associate them with the hamlet of Netherstoke which formerly existed within a km (see ST 50 NW 9). Area delineated on OS 6". 'B' ST 53850872. An area of natural slopes formed by an abandoned river meander: not an antiquity. <2>

Area A has been ploughed recently for re-seeding of grassland. Earthworks are still visible but confused by drainage channels. Sub-rectangular enclosure and area extending south to amorphous hollows had a thick scatter of Medieval and some Post-Medieval pottery. Stone and flint spreads were visible though not inside the enclosure. On the west a substantial bank spread by ploughing with a 0.5m drop to the east perhaps marks a boundary to the features. These earthworks and surface fields indicate a small Medieval and Post-Medieval settlement obscured by quarry pits/ponds and drainage ditches. Area B is as previously described. Area C is centred ST 53580860 and comprises earthworks forming part of A which extend into field immediately south where the eastern corner Is cut off by a west-facing scarp 3m wide and c. 1m high, following a slightly curved course. <3>

<1> Royal Air Force, 11-APR-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1975 4065-66 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18150.

<2> Chaplin, C P, Various, Field Investigators Comments CC, F1 CC 23-MAR-77 (Unpublished document). SWX3450.

<3> Pattison, P, Various, Field Investigator's Comments PP, F2 PP 27-APR-1987 (Index). SDO17724.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 195766 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 2 2022 11:16AM