Monument record MDO1889 - Deserted medieval settlement of North Louvard, Piddlehinton

The remains of the deserted medieval settlement of North Louvard, situated on the northern terrace of the River Piddle. The extensive medieval earthworks are visible on aerial photographs and lidar imagery, they were recorded during the Upper Cerne and Piddle Valleys AIM.

The settlement remains of North Louvard, cover an area of approximately 2.75 ha., and are generally as described by RCHM (1) The closes and eight building platforms are set beside a hollow-way pursuing a sinuous north-west to south-east course. The whole remains are in a fair state of preservation.Surveyed at 1:2500 on M.S.D. <2>

A series of earthworks lying south-west of the settlement remains, are believed to represent an area of water meadow. The date is uncertain but it is likely to post-date the medieval settlement. <4>

The extensive medieval earthworks are visible on aerial photographs and lidar imagery, they were recorded during the Upper Cerne and Piddle Valleys AIM. <6-7>

<1> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2 (Monograph). SDO136.

‘(13) Settlement Remains (727958), part of the former hamlet of North Louvard, lie in the S. of the parish, 300 yds. E.S.E. of (3) on the N.E. bank of the R. Piddle. The settlement is one of the unidentified 'Piddles' in Domesday; its subsequent history is difficult to ascertain as it is usually recorded together with South Louvard, another Domesday 'Piddle' which is now Higher Waterston in Puddletown (Hutchins II, 618; see also Tithe Maps of Piddlehinton (1840) and of Puddletown (1842)). In 1327 only seven taxpayers were recorded, and these probably came from both N. and S. Louvard. By 1662 the northern settlement must have been completely deserted, since the only house listed for Louvard (Meekings, 12) is certainly Higher Waterston (see Dorset Procs., loc. cit., 212).

The remains cover some 5 acres and comprise three well-preserved closes, 60 yds. long and 30 yds. wide, bounded by scarps and banks up to 3 ft. high, with internal subdivisions. Building platforms, possibly house-sites, 20 ft. by 40 ft., lie at the S.W. or lower ends of the closes. There are traces of at least three more closes to the N.W., all of them very much disturbed; another close has been largely destroyed by the modern road on the S.E.’

<2> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 08-JAN-81 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1994, Medieval Village Research Group Index, PRN 497 (Index). SDO16386.

<4> DCMS, 2000, Scheduled Monument Notification 2000, 24-Nov-00 (Scheduling record). SWX2721.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 454807 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<6> National Monuments Record, 09-MAY-1994, NMR 15029/41 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20990.

<6> Environment Agency, 15-DEC-2023, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO20691.

Record last edited

Oct 21 2024 10:49AM