Monument record MDO42960 - Shrunken medieval settlement, Sydling St Nicholas

Linear banked and ditched features are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs and on current Lidar imagery on the west side of Sydling St Nicholas. The features are recorded as medieval crofts and tofts associated with medieval settlement shrinkage. The features were digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Frome AIM project.

Settlement remains, representing engrassment and/or abandonment of properties, within the village of Sydling St Nicholas. The earthwork occur at the southern end of the village within narrow paddocks evidently representing empty tofts.

Earthworks occur at SY 63309912, SY 63259920 and at SY 63179935. The latter forms an extensive area, just less than one hectare of amorphous platforms and scarps representing abandoned properties and toft boundaries. <1>

Linear banked and ditched features are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs <1> and on current Lidar imagery <2> on the west side of Sydling St Nicholas. The features run between and parallel to historic field boundaries recorded on the OS 1st Edition map <3>, which form narrow curvilinear plots of medieval origin. An area of ridge and furrow cultivation is visible within one of the plots on current Lidar imagery <2>. The features are recorded as medieval crofts and tofts associated with medieval settlement shrinkage (NRHE Hob UID 931294).
The features were digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Frome AIM project.

<1> Wilson-North, R, RCHME Field investigator's comments RWN, 22-OCT-1991 (Unpublished document). SDO19986.

<2> Royal Air Force, 11-APR-47, RAF/CPE/UK/1794 RP 3377-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16888.

<3> Environment Agency, XX-XXX-2019, LIDAR Environment Agency Composite LAST RETURN (Photograph). SDO16524.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1864, 1886, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch one (Map). SDO10239.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 931294 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 3:18PM