Monument record MDO3354 - Shrunken medieval village, Winterbourne Steepleton

Earthworks of medieval or later settlement shrinkage, formerly part of Winterbourne Steepleton village. Noted by RCHM and also visible as earthworks on aerial photographs.

SY 631898. Settlement remains, formerly part of Winterbourne Steepleton village, lie east of the Manor House
where disturbed banks 2.0 to 3.0ft high once formed five or more enclosures but now only remain as a series of bays, 60 to 120ft wide, running north from a scarp 5.0 to 7.0ft high. The name 'Droveway' on the Tithe Map for an enclosure east of these bays supports the suggestion of other boundaries on the map that a road continued the line of the village street eastwards below these closes and south of the present road. North-east of the church two large enclosures are formed on a south-facing slope by banks 19ft across and 4ft high with ditches 10ft wide. These banks continue east and west suggesting further incomplete enclosures. (1)

The enclosure banks described by RCHM as forming 'bays' east of the Manor House are no longer visible on the ground, and the scarp from which they ran northwards is but an intermittent, amorphous and seemingly natural feature. East of the church vestigial remains of old field boundary banks are visible on a 1:3 slope and are generally as described by RCHM (1). None of what remains today can be identified as 'village earthworks' in the true sense of the term. Area outlined on 1:10560 Record Sheet. (2)

This site is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs (3-5} and these were digitally plotted during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project. Evidence for further settlement shrinkage can also be seen at the northwestern end of the village (MDO3353).

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 2, 396 (Monograph). SDO149.

'(11) Settlement remains, formerly part of Winterbourne Steepleton village (624901, 630897, 631898; Fig, in pocket), cover about 10 acres.
The remains at the W. end of the village, covering 3 acres, are very disturbed but continue N.W. the line of existing closes S. of the main street. E. of the Manor House disturbed banks 2 ft. to 3 ft. high once formed five or more enclosures but now only remain as a series of bays, 60 ft. to 120 ft. wide, running N. from a scarp 5 ft. to 7 ft. high contained E. by a boundary line. The name 'Droveway' on the Tithe Map for an enclosure to the E. of these bays supports the suggestion of other boundaries on the map that a road continued the line of the village street eastwards, below these closes and S. of the present road. N.E. of the church two large enclosures on a S.-facing slope of about 10 degrees are formed by banks 19 ft. across and 4 ft. high with ditches 10 ft. wide; these banks continue E. and W., suggesting further incomplete enclosures. In 1840 these closes lay in Cowleaze and were partly indicated on the Tithe Map which also suggests that they were cut by the existing road. (R.A>F. V.A>P> CPE/UK 1934: 5093).'

<2> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 14-APR-80 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<3> Royal Air Force, 09-MAR-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2475 3071-3 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11873.

<4> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1824 4277-9 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11870.

<5> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 5093-5 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11872.

<6> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<7> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 883263 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME: Settlements and Cultivation, Winterbourne Steepleton, Dorset

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 452517 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 24 2023 12:41PM