Monument record MDO1888 - Deserted medieval settlement of Little Piddle, Piddlehinton

A deserted medieval village situated on the northern terrace of the River Piddle surviving as a series of earthworks extending over an area of 8 hectares. Little Piddle is mentioned in the Domesday Survey and was divided into two manors, the northern manor known as Coombe Deveral in Piddlehinton and the southern manor in Puddletown. These two manors remained as distinct land units with separate open field systems in different parishes until 1885. The extensive medieval earthworks are visible on aerial photographs and lidar imagery, they were recorded during the Upper Cerne and Piddle Valleys AIM.

These earthworks extend from the valley floor a short distance up the east and west sides. The position near a stream and construction are unlike that of a normal Iron Age/Romano-British settlement and the banked platforms and enclosures seem to indicate a Medieval deserted hamlet. <3>

Fagersten recorded Coombe Deveral as an alternative name for Little Piddle Manor. Hutchen however records it as a separate manor. An examination of field boundaries suggest that the narrow strip of land now known as Little Puddle Bottom formed a separate strip of land unit, and indeed the field in this block presence the `Deveral' part of the place-name. Taylor suggests that Coombe Deveral settlement may lie at the extreme northern end of the earthwork SY 79 NW 6 and indeed be a part of them. <6>

The earthworks of this deserted medieval settlement are generally as described by RCHM and in a good state of preservation. They are as depicted on RCHM plan, but the bank and ditch from SY 71649650 to SY 71739642 and at SY 71689648 has been ploughed out. Resurveyed at 1:2500 on MSD utilising RCHM survey. <9>

SY 7191 9656: Deserted medieval village situated on the northern terrace of the River Piddle surviving as a series of earthworks extending over an area of 8 hectares. Little Piddle is mentioned in the Domesday Survey and was divided into 2 manors, the northern manor known as Coombe Deveral in Piddlehinton and the southern manor in Puddletown. These 2 manors remained as distinct land units with separate open field systems in different parishes until 1885. A series of low earthworks on the floodplain of the River Piddle represent water meadows characterised by a series of gullies aligned along the river valley served by a series of drainage channels. <11>

The extensive medieval earthworks are visible on aerial photographs and lidar imagery, they were recorded during the Upper Cerne and Piddle Valleys AIM. <16-18>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1902 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 717966) British Settlement (NR)

<2> 1905, Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries 9 (Serial). SDO18505.

<3> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 07-DEC-54 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<3.1> Royal Air Force, 11-APR-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 1367 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18504.

<4> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 717966) Earthworks (NR)

<5> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1967, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1966, 211 (Serial). SDO66.

<6> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1967, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1966, 211 (Serial). SDO66.

<7> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2 (Monograph). SDO136.

‘(12) SETTLEMENT REMAINS of Little Piddle (718966) lie on both sides of the valley in the vicinity of (5). Hp.03/01/2025#[]# Piddle is first recorded in Domesday Book, when it was divided into two manors (D.B. Vol. I, f. 75a and 77b). Until 1885 these manors remained separate land units, each with its own open-field system (14) and in different parishes; the N. manor, known as Combe Deveral, was part of Piddlehinton while the S. manor was in Puddletown (Tithe Map 1842). Domesday Book records a population of 19 persons for the settlement, and a late 13th-century I.P.M. lists 4 custumers and 11 cottars for the manor of Little Piddle (S. & D. N. & Q., IX, (1904–5), 147). The 1333 Subsidy Rolls record 7 taxpayers for Little Piddle manor only (Combe Deveral manor presumably being listed under Piddlehinton), perhaps indicating a reduction of population by this period. Desertion had almost certainly taken place by 1539 as only two men are recorded on the Muster Rolls of that year (L. & P., Henry VIII, Vol. 14, Pt. I, 267–9), and by 1662 only two households are listed (Meekings, 12. See also Dorset Procs., LXXXVIII (1966), 211).

The division of the settlement into two manors is not manifest in the earthwork remains. The earthworks cover 32 acres and were probably completely enclosed by a boundary bank and ditch, but these features have been much damaged, on the E. side by a modern road and in the valley bottom by watermeadows. The bank, where preserved, is up to 20 ft. wide and 2½ ft. high, with an external ditch 15 ft. to 20 ft. wide; within it the remains are much disturbed. On the E. side of the river there are a number of long closes, running down the valley side and bounded by low banks; they may be the crofts of houses which formerly lay in the valley bottom. Two rectangular areas that are probably the sites of houses lie 130 yds. E.N.E. of (5); they are bounded by low banks.
On the W. side of the river, the farm house, outbuildings, gardens and water-meadows associated with (5) have largely destroyed the remains, although stubs of banks projecting from the boundary bank suggest that long closes once existed.’

<8> Beresford, M, and Hurst, J G, 1971, Deserted Medieval Villages, 186 (Monograph). SWX1568.

'SY 710960. Deserted Medieval Village of Little Puddle'

<9> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F2 JGB 22-DEC-80 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<10> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1994, Medieval Village Research Group Index, PRN 442 (Index). SDO16386.

<11> English Heritage, Scheduling Amendment, 17-JAN-2001 (Scheduling record). SDO17245.

<12> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/096 RCHME Inventory: Dorset III (Central) (Unpublished document). SDO17384.

<13> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 881368 RCHME: Settlement remains of Little Piddle, Dorset (Index). SDO14738.

A publication proof of this has been made, together with a plan of Winterbourne Farringdon and Dewlish Settlements on the same sheet. Inscription: Piddlehinton Monument (12) Little Piddle (718 966)Bibliographic References : 1) Pt 2, Monument (12)

<14> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 883868 RCHME: Manorial and Village Sites, Piddlehinton, Winterborne Farringdon, Dewlish, Dorset (Index). SDO14738.

A group of three settlement plans: Little Piddle, Winterborne Farringdon, Dewlish DMVsBibliographic References : 1) Winterbourne Farringdon is in Vol II, Little Piddle on p.211, Dewlish Manor Farm p.86-87.

<15> National Record of the Historic Environment, 454658 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<16> National Monuments Record, 24-JAN-2005, NMR 23784/09 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20988.

<17> National Monuments Record, 24-JAN-2005, NMR/23784/11 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20989.

<18> Environment Agency, 15-DEC-2023, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO20691.

Record last edited

Jan 3 2025 1:35PM