Monument record MDO1913 - Later prehistoric enclosures, pits and field system, Piddlehinton

Two curvilinear enclosures and an associated pit scatter are visible as cropmarks and soilmarks on aerial photographs to the west of Heaves Farm, Piddlehinton. They are considered likely to be of later prehistoric origin and are situated within fragments of a contemporary field system which covers an area of over 9.8 hectares. The features were digitally recorded during the Upper Cerne and Piddle Valleys AIM project.

(SY 68959705. An ovoid feature, visible only on air photographs, is about 160ft long and 120ft broad, aligned north-south, and defined by a narrow ditch (or two concentric ditches). It lies in close, but indeterminable, relationship to `Celtic' fields on almost flat ground rising gently to the west. <1>

No remains; site under pasture. <2>

A rapid examination of air photography shows the enclosure as an irregular penannular ditch with an entrance on the north side. Within is a second, narrower (and less well defined) ditch. There are also a number of pit-like features nearby. The features are visible as cropmarks and are possibly of Prehistoric or Roman date, as the enclosure apparently connects with the field system SY 69 NE 12. <3>

Two curvilinear enclosures and an associated pit scatter are visible as cropmarks and soilmarks on aerial photographs to the west of Heaves Farm, Piddlehinton. They are considered likely to be of later prehistoric origin and are situated within fragments of a contemporary field system which covers an area of over 9.8 hectares. The features were digitally recorded during the Upper Cerne and Piddle Valleys AIM project. <5-6>

<1> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 322 (Monograph). SDO136.

<1.1> Royal Air Force, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 1370 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20018.

<1.2> Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photography, CUCAP AND 8 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20019.

<2> Attrill, N J, Field Investigators Comments NJA, F1 NJA 09-JAN-81 (Unpublished document). SDO14743.

<3> Miller, Andrew, RCHME/EH/HE Aerial Photographers comment AM, 15-FEB-1993 (Verbal communication). SDO17356.

<3.1> National Monuments Record, NMR 4436: 21 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20020.

<3.2> National Monuments Record, NMR 4527: 65-7 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20021.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 453003 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<5> Royal Air Force, 20-OCT-1971, RAF/39/3812 V 222 (Aerial Photograph). SDO21105.

<6> National Monuments Record, 21-APR-1976, NMR 926/453-462 (Aerial Photograph). SDO21106.

Record last edited

Nov 13 2024 10:30AM