Monument record MDO39016 - Modern military camp, Fir Farm, Broadwindsor

A probable military camp to the southwest of Fir Farm, Broadwindsor, is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs of the 1940s. The site comprises a series of regular enclosures, building platforms and interconnecting trackways that extends over three to five historic fields, whose boundaries remain as shown on the OS 1st Edition map. The site was digitally plotted during the Marshwood Vale NMP.

A probable military camp to the southwest of Fir Farm, Broadwindsor, is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs of the 1940s (1). The site comprises what appears to be a series of rectilinear enclosures, building platforms and interconnecting trackways that extends over three to five historic fields, whose boundaries remain as shown on the OS 1st Edition map.

An aerial photograph of 1947 (1) shows two rectangular enclosures around 120m by 50m to the south and southwest of Fir Farm. The one to the south appears more complete, with around 20 rectangular building platforms aligned either side of a central road or trackway. The trackway runs through the enclosure from east to west and joins another group of probable building platforms on the west side of the field, although the form of these is less distinct. In the northeast corner of a field to the west is another rectilinear enclosure, around 68m long by 50m wide and containing a gridded layout of sixteen square platforms aligned either side of a central north to south running ditch, probably a road or trackway. A longer rectangular ditched feature to the south of these may represent the footprint of another building.

A possible Nissan hut and a large rectangular building are visible at what is now Fir Farm on an aerial photograph taken in 1947 (1), potentially indicating that this was also part of the military site; the buildings are accessed by a long driveway from the main road and a smaller trackway runs west from these buildings into the site to join an historic trackway shown on the OS 1st Edition map (2). A series of linear banks and earthworks (MDO39017) to the south of the site may be associated with it, but this is not certain. The origin and function of the camp are unknown , although a First or Second World War date seems likely. The camp was clearly in disuse, with all obvious structures removed, by 1947 (1). The buildings at Fir Farm are still extant on an aerial photograph taken in 1971 (2) but the camp is no longer visible, bar the trackway trough the southern enclosure. The site is no longer visible on the latest Google Earth imagery (3) and the possible military buildings have been replaced by the modern Fir Farm. The site was digitally plotted during the Marshwood Vale NMP.

<1> Royal Air Force, 11-APR-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 FS 2407-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDO14852.

<2> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1971, RAF/39/3826 V 0133-4 (Aerial Photograph). SDO14854.

<3> Google Earth, 2006, Google Earth vertical photograph (Aerial Photograph). SDO14562.

Record last edited

Jul 26 2019 1:32PM