Monument record MDO3570 - Shrunken medieval settlement of Littleton, Blandford St Mary

The remains of the medieval settlement of Littleton. Earthworks covering around 12 acres and comprising at least fifteen closes bounded by banks and scarps up to six feet high, set along two parallel hollow ways running south-west to north-east. Rectangular platforms measuring around 20 feet by 30 feet can be seen in some closes, and may be house platforms. A series of parallel cultivation marks associated with the medieval settlement are visible as low earthworks on lidar imagery and were digitally recorded during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM.

A series of parallel cultivation marks associated with the medieval settlement of Littleton are visible as low earthworks on lidar imagery <3> and were digitally recorded during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 1, 45 (Monograph). SDO146.

'(25) SETTLEMENT REMAINS, part of the former village of Littleton, lie immediately E. of (5). The village, which was formerly a separate parish with its own church, had a recorded population of eight in 1086 (D.B. Vol. 1., f. 79b). It is not mentioned in the 14th-century Lay Subsidy Rolls, but this is more probably because it was included under Langton Long Blandford than because it was deserted. Rectors continued to be appointed until 1427 (Hutchins I, 167). The remains cover about 12 acres and consist of fifteen rectangular closes, bounded by banks and scarps 1 ft. to 6 ft. high, lying on wither side of and between two parallel embanked hollow-ways. 10 yrds. Wide and 4 ft. deep, orientated S.W.-N.E. There are no definite house-sites, but rectangular platforms 20 ft. by 30 ft. occur in some closes. Ridge-and-furrow 5 yds. To 6 yds. Wide is super-imposed on the N.E. half of the site and partly obliterates the closes. This part of the site is divided from the better-preserved S.W. half by an irregular but continuous bank and scarp, which cuts across the hollow-ways. Traces of other closes are seen on air photographs immediately S. of Littleton House (R.A.F. CPE/UK 1934: 3160)'.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1994, Medieval Village Research Group Index, PRN 496 (Index). SDO16386.

<3> Environment Agency, 16-NOV-2021, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO18034.

Record last edited

Feb 21 2023 6:11PM