Monument record MDO42829 - Iron Age, Romano-British field system, Hog Cliff Bottom, Maiden Newton

Banked and ditched linear features are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs and on current Lidar imagery in the area of Hog Cliff Bottom, Maiden Newton. The features are considered likely to be field and enclosure boundaries and trackways associated with an extensive Iron Age/Romano-British field system and were digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Frome AIM project.

'Celtic' type field systems are visible in areas SY 60929785, SY 612129721, and SY 61469684, where low lychets and field banks form rectinlinear enclosures. Elsewhere, fragmentary and vague lynchets, mainly of enclosure type, can be seen. <1>

Area centred SY610972. The 'Celtic' type field systems can be traced on RAF air photographs, distinctly in some places and fragmented and faintly in others. The available OS air photographs show well defined lynchets and field banks in the Hog Cliff Bottom area, centred SY 614970. <2>

The area of Celtic fields is now confined to about 40ha centred at SY 61459700 along and above Hogg Cliff Bottom. They are of rectilinear type 50m to 100m wide and up to 300m long; their banks average 3.5m wide and 0.7m high, while the lynchets are up to 3.7m high. Area delineated on 1:10 000 for record purposes. <3>

Banked and ditched linear features are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs <5> and on current Lidar imagery <6> in the area of Hogg Cliff Bottom, Maiden Newton. The features are considered likely to be field and enclosure boundaries and trackways associated with an extensive Iron Age/Romano-British field system and were digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Frome AIM project.

<1> Swatridge, G C, Various, Field Investigators Comments GCS, F1 GCS 12-JAN-55 (Unpublished document). SWX1169.

<2> Mead, Richard, Field Investigators Comments RPM, R1 RPM 11-JUL-1979 (Unpublished document). SWX2301.

<2.1> Royal Air Force, 11-APR-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 1381-82 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19991.

<2.2> Ordnance Survey, 1969, OS 69/114 047-49 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19992.

<3> Attrill, N J, Field Investigators Comments NJA, F2 NJA 04-FEB-81 (Unpublished document). SDO14743.

<4> RCHM Unpublished Revision Dorset 1 - West Undated (Unpublished document). SWX1659.

<5> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-48, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 RS 4273-4 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16839.

<6> Environment Agency, XX-XXX-2019, LIDAR Environment Agency Composite LAST RETURN (Photograph). SDO16524.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 453233 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jul 21 2023 4:47PM