Monument record MDO42917 - Iron Age/Romano-British field system, Magiston Hill, Sydling St Nicholas

A series of curvilinear banks are visible as earthworks on current Lidar imagery on Magiston Hill, Sydling St Nicholas. The features are part of an extensive Iron Age/Romano-British field system (NRHE Hob UID 453129). They were digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Frome AIM project.

`A' - Centred SY 638978. An Iron Age/Romano-British type field system consisting of lynchets and field banks pronounced in the area east and north of `B' (see below). Vague to the west of Huish Plantation.

`B' - Centred SY 638976. An area of scooped-out hollows on terraces situated below the crest of a hill falling to the north. The topographical position and formation of the features are typical of an unenclosed Romano-British settlement but no surface finds were discovered at the time of field investigation to substantiate the probability of a settlement at this position.
The detail within the area was pronounced and surveyable.

`C' - Centred SY 636977. A small area of grass-covered, parallel strip lynchets of medieval type. Some were well pronounced but the majority averaged 0.6m high. <1>

The medieval strip lynchets at `C' are reasonably well-defined on air photographs <2> but the Iron Age/Romano-British field system at `A' and the probable settlement site `B' are indistinct.

The `Celtic' field system at `A' and `B' have been ploughed out and the possible settlement site is now within a plantation, yielding no evidence of hut scoops. Area `C' is also in the plantation, the strip lynchets generally as described by Authority 1. <3>

A series of curvilinear banks are visible as earthworks on current Lidar imagery <5> on Magiston Hill, Sydling St Nicholas. The features are part of an extensive Iron Age/Romano-British field system (NRHE Hob UID 453129). They were digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Frome AIM project.

The features are under plantation and not visible on current Google Earth imagery.

<1> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F1 JR 01-MAR-55 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<2> Royal Air Force, RAF/CPE/UK/2475 3128-29 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19983.

<3> Attrill, N J, Field Investigators Comments NJA, F2 NJA 24-FEB-81 (Unpublished document). SDO14743.

<4> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/088 RCHME Inventory: Dorset I (West) and Revision (Unpublished document). SDO17367.

<5> Environment Agency, XX-XXX-2019, LIDAR Environment Agency Composite LAST RETURN (Photograph). SDO16524.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 453129 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jul 21 2023 2:56PM