Monument record MDO39639 - Historic field boundaries, possible medieval strip field, Hurn Court, Hurn, Christchurch

A series of parallel banked and ditched historic field boundaries are visible in fields to the west of Hurn Court, Hurn, on 1940s aerial photographs and on current Lidar imagery. The features were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP.

A series of parallel banked and ditched historic field boundaries are visible in fields to the west of Hurn Court, Hurn, on 1940s aerial photographs and on current Lidar imagery (1 and 2).

The features correspond with field boundaries showing on the OS 1st Edition map that are clearly at various stages of disuse and disappearance by this time (3) but whose form and spacing suggest a possible fossilised medieval strip field system, although a later origin is possible. The boundaries align broadly northeast to southwest, running downslope to the banks of the River Stour. They are narrowly but not regularly spaced, varying between around 20m and 40m apart. There is some evidence for possible gravel extraction at the northeast end of one of the boundary features, adjacent to a larger area of post medieval gravel extraction (MDO39637).

The former field boundaries are currently located within a pasture field on the north bank of the River Stour and are still currently visible as ditched and banked linears on Google Earth Imagery, some with trees still extant along some sections (4).

The features were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP.

<1> Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 RP 3214-5 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15532.

<2> XX-XXX-2015, Environment Agency DTM Lidar 1m (Aerial Photograph). SDO15442.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1864, 1886, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch one (Map). SDO10239.

<4> Google Earth, 2017, Google Earth 2017 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15388.

Record last edited

Oct 12 2017 10:22AM