Monument record MDO43363 - Enclosure, Cheselbourne, Melcombe Horsey

Enclosure and associated fields visible as cropmarks. Located at the head of a dry combe, the site may be associated with neighbouring field systems (eg ST 70 SW 47).

Cropmarks representing a ditched enclosure complex and fields visible on air photographs taken in June 2001. "Celtic" fields have long been known from surrounding fields, both as cropmarks and earthworks (eg ST 70 SW 47). These features are presumably related though cannot at present be directly linked. This particular complex is circa 200 metres by100 metres and sits at the head of a dry combe which runs and deepens towards the southeast. A linear feature runs from the cropmark complex alongside the southwestern edge of the combe for circa 200 metres, roughly following the contour. Part of the complex is clearly defined by ditches, rather than the plough-levelled banks of lynchets, suggesting an element of settlement associated with the fields, or perhaps, given the location and the linear, an element of stock management. <1>

National Record of the Historic Environment, 1371617 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<1> National Monuments Record, 22-JUN-2001, NMR ST 7400/ 11 (21252/21) (Aerial Photograph). SDO17582.

Record last edited

Feb 7 2022 3:15PM