Monument record MDO41448 - Deserted medieval settlement, Lower Barford, Pamphill

Earthworks associated with a deserted medieval settlement and its associated field system are visible at Lower Barford on aerial photographs and current Lidar imagery. The features include probable settlement earthworks, banked and ditched historic field boundaries and areas of probable medieval ridge and furrow. Ruined structures towards the western edge of the site correspond with buildings recorded on the OS 1st Edition map; probably associated with the site of 17th/18th Century Old Barford. The features were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

Bere Peverel DMV. The name is now attached to Barford Farm, around mile SW of Kingston Lacy. It was shown on Isaac Taylor's map of Dorset, and described by Hutchins as consisting of 2 farms. It was anciently a manor. <1>

Earthworks associated with a deserted medieval settlement and its associated field system are visible at Lower Barford on aerial photographs and current Lidar imagery <3-5>.

The features include probable settlement earthworks, banked and ditched historic field boundaries and areas of probable medieval ridge and furrow. Adjacent curvilinear field boundaries and enclosures recorded on the OS 1st Edition map indicate an area of probable former medieval open field at Barford, within which most of the visible earthworks are situated <6>. It seems likely the site is associated with the deserted medieval settlement of Bere Peverill (NHRE Hob UID 887309).

Ruined structures towards the western edge of the site correspond with buildings recorded on the OS 1st Edition map; probably associated with the site of 17th/18th Century Old Barford (NHRE Hob UID 457202). The buildings are still extant in a 1946 aerial photograph <4> but ruinous by 1971 <7>. The buildings and associated enclosures are situated at the far western end of the area of probable former medieval open field and their character indicates likely later medieval or early post medieval additions.

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

<1> Good, R, 1979, Lost Villages of Dorset, 40-1 (Monograph). SWX1569.

<1.1> Taylor, Isaac, 1765, Dorset Shire (Map). SDO10340.

<1.2> Shipp, W (ed), 1868, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. 3rd edition. Volume 3, 236 (Monograph). SWX3207.

<2> Fitzgerald, R J, RCHME Fieldworker's Comments RJF, RJF 05-JUL-1991 (Unpublished document). SWX2638.

<3> Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 RS 4147-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16132.

<4> Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 RS 4149-50 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16141.

<5> Environment Agency, xxx-xxx-2015, Geomatics Lidar DSM 50cm (Aerial Photograph). SDO16012.

<6> Ordnance Survey, 1864, 1886, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch one (Map). SDO10239.

<7> John Boyden, 07-FEB-71, JRB 371/4592 (JRB SY9699/0003) (Aerial Photograph). SDO16142.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 887309 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 20 2023 12:00PM