Monument record MDO42251 - Linear ditch on Keyneston Down, Tarrant Keyneston

A broken line of cropmarks visible on aerial photographs taken in 2014, and interpreted as short lengths of ditch in an arc. About 70 metres of the ditch is visible on the photographs, and it is thought likely to be prehistoric in date. Possibly a causewayed enclosure, though no indication of an inner bank can be seen on the aerial photographs. If continuous, the arc would have formed part of a circle around 200 metres in diameter, and it is interesting to note that the line of such a circle would run along two round barrows at the edge of Ashley Wood. The features were digitally plotted from aerial photographs during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM Project.

A broken line of cropmarks visible on aerial photographs taken in 2014, and interpreted as short lengths of ditch in an arc. About 70 metres of the ditch is visible on the photographs, and it is thought likely to be prehistoric in date. Possibly a causewayed enclosure, though no indication of an inner bank can be seen on the aerial photographs. If continuous, the arc would have formed part of a circle around 200 metres in diameter, and it is interesting to note that the line of such a circle would run along two round barrows at the edge of Ashley Wood.

The features are visible as a broken arc of ditched segments on an aerial photograph dated 1982 [2]. The arc is approximately 170m in diameter and there appear to be additional linear segments extending to the southwest and northeast of the arc, which may be associated but which may form part of a contemporary or later trackway. The feature may be a curvilinear enclosure of possible later prehistoric date. A banked linear feature (MDO44435), possibly a later prehistoric field boundary, part of an extensive field system (MDO4199), visible on Environment Agency lidar imagery, runs from north to south along the west side of the enclosure. The relationship between these two features is not clear, although the banked linear possibly truncates the enclosure, suggesting the enclosure is potentially the earlier in date. The features were digitally plotted from aerial photographs during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM Project.

<1> GetMapping, 2014, Digital vertical aerial photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDO14101.

<2> National Monuments Record, 30-MAR-1982, NMR 2110/1149 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18588.

Record last edited

Sep 23 2022 10:07AM