Monument record MDO41123 - Post medieval extractive pit, Canford Magna, Poole

A large extractive pit at Canford Magna is visible on 1940s aerial photographs. The feature, possibly known as Canford Pit, is not shown on the OS 1st Edition map so may be late 19th century to early 20th century in date. It was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

A large extractive pit Canford Magna is visible on 1940s aerial photographs (1).

The area of extraction extends across the northern section of a large historic enclosure recorded on the OS 1st Edition map (2). The feature, possibly known as Canford Pit, is not shown on the OS 1st Edition map so may be late 19th century to early 20th century in date. An access road to the pit leads off Merley Lane to the north. A roofed building is visible in the southeast corner of the pit, situated on the south side of a former field boundary (MDO41124) which is still extant and visible as a banked linear earthwork in 1946; the area of extraction extends around 68m southwest beyond this former boundary.

Within the centre of the extractive pit, and extending around its north and west sides, are ditched and banked linear features that may be associated with military practice trenches (MDO41125), suggesting the pit may have been in disuse, or commandeered by for military purposes, at some point between 1914 and 1945; the freshness of the possible practice trenches suggests a probable World War Two origin but they could be earlier in date.

The site is developed as housing on current Google Earth imagery and the features are no longer visible.They were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP.

<1> Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 RP 3201-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16028.

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

Record last edited

Jan 6 2020 11:30AM