Monument record MDO43012 - Modern structure, Alder Moor, Batcombe

An un-roofed structure within a rectilinear banked enclosure is visible on 1940s aerial photographs on the west side of Alder Moor, Batcombe. The structure is of uncertain function but appears to comprise a series of inset rectilinear troughs or pits. It may be a water treatment or containment facility. The feature was digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Frome AIM project.

An un-roofed structure within a rectilinear banked enclosure is visible on 1940s aerial photographs on the west side of Alder Moor, Batcombe (1). The structure comprises two large rectilinear 10.5m by 6.8m troughs or pits positioned adjacent to each other, with two smaller 3.4m by 2.3m rectilinear troughs or pits to the south of these. The troughs appear to be inset within a sub-square, broadly 22.5 by 17m, structure with a bowed front on the north side and a linear extension on the south side. The whole structure is set within a banked enclosure created by a historic field boundary on the west side, Alder Moor wood on the east and two narrow banked boundaries to the north and south.

The structure is of uncertain function. It is not recorded on historic mapping and is probably modern in date. The structure may be foundations for a demolished structure or perhaps a water/sewage treatment or containment facility. The feature was digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Frome AIM project.

The features are still visible under vegetation on current Google Earth imagery.

<1> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-48, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 RP 3367-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17002.

Record last edited

Feb 3 2021 9:47AM