Monument record MDO3762 - Strip lynchets west of Knighton House, Durweston

An extensive system of banked field boundaries is visible as low earthworks on lidar imagery on the south facing slopes to the south of Milton Lane. Many of the long linears follow the contours and may be medieval strip lynchets although some elements of the field system may be earlier prehistoric. The features form part of a wider field system which includes MDO3767 to the south and MDO44693 and MDO3761 to the north, they were digitally recorded during the Middle Dorset Stour AIM Project.

An extensive system of banked field boundaries is visible as low earthworks on lidar imagery on the south facing slopes to the south of Milton Lane [2]. Many of the long linears follow the contours and may be medieval strip lynchets although some elements of the field system may be earlier prehistoric. The features form part of a wider field system which includes MDO3767 to the south and MDO44693 and MDO3761 to the north, they were digitally recorded during the Middle Dorset Stour AIM Project.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 1, 91 (Monograph). SDO146.

‘(12) CULTIVATION REMAINS. It is probable that originally both Durweston and Kingston had separate open fields, but by 1580 there was only one system for both villages (map of Durweston c. 1580, copy in D.C.R.O.); enclosure took place some time after 1580, but before the 19th century. … To W. of Knighton House (864081) on both sides of a dry valley are well-preserved remains of fifteen contour strip lynchets, up to 250 yds. long. The upper three strip lynchets on the S. side of the valley run up to the hill top and fan out; on the resulting wide treads is ridge-and-furrow, 5 yds. to 7 yds. wide. The S.W. part of this group overlies ‘Celtic’ fields (Group 60).’

<2> Environment Agency, 16-NOV-2021, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO18034.

Record last edited

Nov 22 2022 5:50PM