Monument record MDO41015 - Possible historic field boundary, Julian's Bridge, Pamphill

A ditched and banked linear feature in a field to the southwest of Julian's Bridge is visible on 1940s aerial photographs. The feature appears to comprise a post medieval drainage ditch with a corresponding bank along its south side, which may indicate a dual function as a historic field boundary, potentially of medieval date, although a later origin is also possible. It was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

A ditched and banked linear feature in a field to the southwest of Julian's Bridge is visible on 1940s aerial photographs (1).

The feature comprises a curvilinear ditch around 1.5m wide, with a corresponding bank along its south side. It extends from the corner of an adjacent field boundary, northwest then west towards the northwest corner of the field in which it is situated, where the ditch may feed into a large post medieval drainage ditch recorded on the OS 1st Edition map (2)..

The ditch is clearly a drainage feature, possibly serving a dual function as a field boundary, particularly as it is banked along its south side. The curvilinear form of the feature may indicate a possible medieval date if the field boundary is the predominant feature; alternatively it may be a drainage feature of post medieval origin.

The site is still open fields on current Google Earth imagery. The feature is partially visible in the year 2002 but not in later years (3). It was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP.

<1> Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 RS 4155-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15997.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1864, 1886, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch one (Map). SDO10239.

<3> Google Earth, 2002, Google Earth imagery (Aerial Photograph). SDO15980.

Record last edited

May 22 2018 2:26PM