Monument record MDO41363 - Possible post medieval gravel pit, Kinson Manor Farm, Bournemouth

Curvilinear scarps and terraces along the south side of the River Stour to the northwest of Kinson Manor Farm are visible on 1940s aerial photographs. The features may be those of post medieval gravel pits although they may alternatively be naturally-formed river terraces. They were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

Curvilinear scarps and terraces along the south side of the River Stour to the northwest of Kinson Manor Farm are visible on 1940s aerial photographs (1).

The features comprise two long meandering scarps up to 332m long running broadly parallel to the south bank of the River Stour and with some more regular edges in places, suggesting possible artificial cuts. A further shorter section of scarp runs along the edge of the riverbank to the north of these (1). The furthest extents of the southernmost predominant linear scarp curve northwards to meet the river edge and the bank of a narrow watercourse to the east, possibly an artificial drain.

The features may be those of post medieval extractive pits associated with post medieval extraction of the river gravels; there is evidence for this along this and other stretches of the River Stour in the near vicinity (e.g. MDO41263). Alternatively, however, these slightly less-well-defined scarps and terraces may be naturally-formed river terraces.

The site is open rough ground on Google Earth imagery and the features are generally no longer visible; a short section of one of the terraces is visible on current Lidar imagery (2). The features were digitally plotted from 1940s aerial photographs by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

<1> Royal Air Force, 20-OCT-47, RAF/CPE/UK/2370 V 5211-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16106.

<2> XX-XXX-2015, Environment Agency DTM Lidar 1m (Aerial Photograph). SDO15442.

Record last edited

Jul 30 2018 2:19PM