Monument record MDO193 - Deserted settlement of Axnoller, Beaminster

A deserted medieval settlement visible as earthworks on aerial photographs taken in the late 1940s. Interpreted as the remains of the village of Axnoller.

(Area ST 491041) Axnoller, mentioned as 'Ax Knolle' by Leland circa 1540, was described by Hutchins, writing in 1774, as a village consisting of about twelve houses, where was a common enclosed in the reign of Elizabeth I and allotted to the customary tenants of the village.

By 1875 there were no traces of a village and the only buildings were those in connection with the farms of Upper and Lower Axnoller. <2-4>

At East Axnoller Farm there are 10 close banks and remains of paddocks to the East covering 3 acres, and to the South at least 6 strip fields 300-350 yards long. At West Axnoller Farm there are several banks to the North of the farm including broad rig and contour strip lynchets to the South. <5>

<1> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 3384 (Aerial Photograph). SDO14517.

<2> Shipp, W, and Hodson, J W (eds), 1863, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. 3rd edition. Volume 2, 125-126 (Monograph). SWX1269.

<3> Pulman, George P R, 1875, The Book of the Axe, 102-103 (Monograph). SDO17923.

<4> Smith, T L (ed), 1964, Leland's Itinerary of 1535-43, 243, 247 (Monograph). SDO18717.

<5> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Unpublished revision RCHME Dorset I (West) Undated (Beaminster file) (Unpublished document). SDO18718.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 193057 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 2 2022 4:53PM