Monument record MDO44449 - Medieval or Post Medieval field boundaries, Bradford Abbas

Possible Medieval or Post Medieval boundaries are visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs. These comprise a broad E-W ditch, 385m long, from which two shorter lenghts of ditch extend south. The boundaries appear to relate to the current field layout but are not marked on any of the historic Ordnance Survey maps from 1888 onwards. The ends of the longer boundary correspond to kinks in Quarry Lane and West Lane.

Possible Medieval or Post Medieval boundaries are visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs. These comprise a broad E-W ditch, 385m long, from which two shorter lengths of ditch extend south. The boundaries appear to relate to the current field layout but are not marked on any of the historic Ordnance Survey maps from 1888 onwards. The ends of the longer boundary correspond to slight kinks in Quarry Lane and West Lane on the edge of Bradford Abbas village. They are centred at ST 5859 1479. The cropmarks were interpreted and mapped during an English Heritage project on a nearby Roman Camp (Monument 1524583). All available aerial photographs of this area were examined, including those from the NMR, online sources, and the local HER. The boundary appears on vertical photographs taken in the 1940s and subsequently. They are clearest on the photographs listed in source 1. <1-3>

These possible boundaries are clearly visible in oblique aerial photographs taken by HE and in satellite images. There are no clear earthwork remains, although the east-west ditch appears to correspond with a very faint lynchet visible in LiDAR imagery. <4-8>

<1> National Monuments Record, 28-JUN-2010, NMR ST5814/005-006 (26650/14-15) (Aerial Photograph). SDO18599.

<2> Historic England, Externally held archive: Bradford Abbas Roman Camp and Environs Air Photograph Interpretation, Object Number: MD003118 (Digital archive). SDO17301.

<3> Historic England, National Record of the Historic Environment, 1539388 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<4> Grady, D, 2010, 26650_015 (Aerial Photograph). SDO21958.

<5> Grady, D, 2010, 26650_018 (Aerial Photograph). SDO21959.

<6> Google Earth, 2010, Google Earth 2010 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16568.

<7> Google Earth, 2018, Google Earth 2018 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16663.

<8> Environment Agency, 2022, LiDAR Composite Viewer - Digital Terrain Model 1m (Aerial Photograph). SDO21777.

Record last edited

Aug 28 2026 10:43AM