Monument record MDO40575 - Late prehistoric settlement and field system, Hawthorn Farm, Burton

A series of rectilinear and curvilinear ditches associated with a widely spread concentration of possible pits are visible as cropmarks to the northwest of Hawthorn Farm on a 2010 aerial photograph. The features appear to represent a late prehistoric agricultural settlement of probable Iron Age/Romano-British origin. The features were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

The cropmarks of a series of possible Iron Age or Roman rectilinear enclosures, boundary ditches and a Bronze Age ring ditch can be seen on HE Reconnaissance aerial photographs. These cropmarks are situated within a field to the west of Hawthorn Farm at SZ1787 9612. They are partly obscured by geological cropmarks and some marks may be associated with recent farming. In places linear cropmarks run parallel to each other and may be the remains of a track way. The cropmark of a possible Bronze Age ring ditch measures approximately 10m across and is situated within one of the rectilinear features. <1>

A series of rectilinear and curvilinear ditches associated with a widely spread concentration of possible pits are visible as cropmarks to the northwest of Hawthorn Farm on a 2010 aerial photograph <2>.

The features are presumed to be field boundaries, trackways and enclosures associated with a late prehistoric agricultural settlement of probable Iron Age/Romano-British origin, although some earlier, perhaps Bronze Age to early Iron Age, activity may also be present. The enclosures are predominantly rectilinear in form, although there may be sections of curvilinear enclosures or ring ditches present. The pits are largely concentred along the western edge of the linear features, and interspersed along their length. The features may represent some time-depth of activity; the curvilinear features potentially pre-dating the more regular rectilinear features. One particular sub-circular ring-ditch (MDO40576) in the southeast of the group is situated within a rectilinear enclosure and has been recorded separately as a possible Bronze Age barrow - although it may alternatively be part of the phased settlement activity associated withthis site.

The features were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

<1> National Monuments Record, 27-JUN-2010, NMR 27229 004-009 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18771.

<2> National Monuments Record, 23-JUN-10, NMR27229/010 SZ1796/008 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15858.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1595042 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 11 2022 4:31PM