Monument record MDO40449 - Possible prehistoric trackway and enclosures, Tenantry Down, Gussage All Saints

Ditched linear features on Tenantry Down are visible as cropmarks on 1970 and 2007 aerial photographs. The features appear to comprise ditched trackways and enclosures and may be of prehistoric date, although a later origin is also possible; possibly a Medieval to Post Medieval droveway. The trackway appears to skirt an area containing the cropmarks of pits – see MDO40452. The features were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

[NGD note 06-03-23: Only the following information from the NRHE-to-HER database pertinent to the trackway is relevant to MDO40449. The pit cluster has been recorded separately as MDO40452. The enclosure was subsequently added to MDO40449 by the Dorset Stour NMP project and did not feature in the NRHE-to-HER record NRHE 1518490.]

A section of double ditched trackway of Late Prehistoric date that appears to skirt an area containing the cropmarks of pits. Seen on 2007 aerial photography. <2> (SU 0124 1231).

This trackway and pit cluster are probably related to the nearby linear ditch and field systems (213770 & 213767).

Ditched linear features on Tenantry Down are visible as cropmarks on 1970s aerial photographs <1>.

The features appear to comprise a double ditched linear trackway aligned north to south and widening out at its northern end. Here there are two possible enclosures. One rectilinear enclosure 16m by15 metres abuts the western side of the trackway. A second, more curvilinear enclosure 11.3m by 7.6m abuts the eastern trackway.

The features may be of prehistoric origin, possibly associated with a field system of Iron Age or Romano-British date to the north (MDO5594). The widened top of the trackway is also similar in form to medieval or post medieval droveways onto downland pasture and it is possible this is alternatively a droveway of historic origin -the trackway possibly crosses over a prehistoric dyke (MDO5545) although the relationship between these two features is not clear from the available aerial evidence.

The features are still faintly visible on a 2007 aerial photograph <2>. They were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

<1> National Monuments Record, 04-MAR-70, NMR 169/248 (SU0112/002) (Aerial Photograph). SDO15819.

<2> National Monuments Record, 06-JUN-07, NMR 24636/026 SU0112/011 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15820.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1518490 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 6 2023 3:17PM