Monument record MDO2192 - Medieval settlement of Waterston, Puddletown

The medieval settlement of Waterson, one of several settlements within the Piddle Valley mentioned in the Domesday Survey. The site, recorded by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England in 1970, survives as a series of earthworks which extend over an area of 2ha. These earthworks include tofts, a large fishpond and a road. The medieval earthworks are visible on lidar imagery, they cover an area of over 3.5 hectares to the south of the River Piddle and were recorded during the Upper Cerne and Piddle Valleys AIM.

The settlement remains of Waterston are generally as described by RCHM <1>, in a poor state of preservation. The terraceway is the most noteworthy feature. The closes are poorly defined on the ground, with scarps 0.1 to 0.5 metres high forming the boundaries. No certain house sites could be identified. Surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. <2>

The medieval earthworks are visible on lidar imagery, they cover an area of over 3.5 hectares to the south of the River Piddle and were recorded during the Upper Cerne and Piddle Valleys AIM. <5>

<1> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 231 (Monograph). SDO136.

'(22) SETTLEMENT REMAINS (733952), formerly part of the hamlet of Waterston, lie immediately W. of Waterston House on the S. side of the R. Piddle.
The settlement is one of the unidentified Piddles in Domesday Book. Although small, the population appears to have remained constant throughout the later mediaeval period. Eighteen taxpayers are recorded in 1327, twelve men are listed in the 1539 Muster Rolls (L. & P., Henry VIII, Vol. 14, Pt. I, pp. 267–9), and ten households were still listed in 1662 (Meekings, 12). Abandonment is likely to be the result of a slight movement of population rather than desertion. The remains cover about 4 acres and comprise at least six closes, 25 yds. to 30 yds. wide and 30 yds. to 35 yds. long, bounded by low banks and scarps up to 3½ ft. high. At the upper ends of the closes, near the road, platforms measuring 45 ft. by 30 ft. are probably house-sites. A terraceway 5 yds. to 7 yds. wide leaves the modern road 100 yds. W.N.W. of the remains and passes to the N. of them, below the closes.'

<2> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 22-DEC-80 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<3> DCMS, 1999, Scheduled Monument Notification 1999, 16-Dec-99 (Scheduling record). SDO17351.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 454819 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<5> Environment Agency, 15-DEC-2023, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO20691.

Record last edited

Oct 21 2024 11:12AM