Monument record MDO2637 - Ridge and furrow, Sydling St Nicholas

Areas of ridged and ditched cultivation are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs on the southern and southeastern sides of East Hill, Sydling St Nicholas. The features are probably those of medieval ridge and furrow and were digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Frome AIM project.

Areas of ridged and ditched cultivation are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs on the southern and southeastern sides of East Hill, Sydling St Nicholas (1, 2). The features comprise two irregular areas of cultivation on the southeast side of East Hill, broad and curvilinear in character and situated either side of a probable post medieval trackway (1, 2). The features in this area appear to overlie broad linear banks that may be part of an underlying Iron Age/Romano-British field system (MDO2623).

A further area of cultivation marks are visible on the southern end of East Hill where they comprise broad curvilinear ridges and ditches that appear to respect banked linear earthworks to the north and south, again associated with the earlier field system MDO2623 (2).

The features are probably those of medieval ridge and furrow and were digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Frome AIM project. They are still visible on current Google Earth imagery (3).

<1> Royal Air Force, 11-APR-47, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 RS 4379-80 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17038.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 30-MAY-74, OS/74087 V 077 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17060.

<3> Google Earth, 16-09-2020, Google Earth imagery 2020 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16840.

Record last edited

Feb 18 2021 12:54PM