Monument record MDO41049 - Medieval moated manor, Leigh Farm, Wimborne Minster

Banked and ditched earthworks at Leigh Farm are visible on 1940's aerial photographs and on current Lidar imagery. The features are likely to be associated with a moated manor of at least 16th century date, although an earlier origin is possible. They were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

Banked and ditched earthworks at Leigh Farm are visible on 1940s aerial photographs and on current Lidar imagery (Royal Air Force 1946; Environment Agency 2015).

The features comprise ditches and banks that are presumed to be earthworks associated with a late medieval moated manor; the manor is considered to date from at least the 16th century (see NHRE Hob UID 457914).

The features include an irregular u-shaped ditch which is assumed to be the remains of the medieval moat, with much later alteration and reduction in some sections (Royal Air Force 1946; Environment Agency 2015).

Banked earthworks to the west of the standing farmhouse are visible on current Lidar imagery (Environment Agency 2015). The banks are broad in character and form part of a broadly rectilinear enclosure. The eastern section appears to border the west arm of the moat, which is recorded on the OS 1st Edition map but which appears much reduced on current Lidar imagery (Environment Agency 2015). These earthworks may be field or enclosure boundaries of medieval to post medieval date, or possibly associated with a former garden area. Alternatively, they could potentially be associated with the site of an earlier manorial complex. The banks are visible on current Google Earth imagery.

The features were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP.

Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch 1, Dorset XXXV.5 Surveyed: 1885, Published: ca. 1888 (Map). SDO10239.

Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch 2, Dorset XXXV.5 Revised: 1900, Published: 1901 (Map). SDO11594.

'Moat'

Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 RS 4156-7 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16001.

Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 RS 4157-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16005.

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

Record last edited

Aug 18 2026 11:58AM