Monument record MDO44552 - Possible late prehistoric trackway, Tarrant Launceston

A ditched linear trackway is visible as cropmarks to the northwest of Tarrant Launceston on aerial photographs. The feature crosses fields between Tarrant Launceston and Blandford Down that contain additional features associated with a possible later prehistoric field system (MDO44553) and a linear cross dyke (MDO44554). The trackway clearly pre-dates the historic field pattern and so could also be of later prehistoric date. At its eastern end it crosses below or over a small rectilinear enclosure (MDO5041), also believed of likely later prehistoric origin. The relationship between all these individual sites is uncertain, based on cropmark evidence alone. The trackway was digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM project.

A possible later Prehistoric linear dyke or trackway is visible as soilmarks on aerial photographs. The site is centred at ST 9330 0953 and comprises two or three parallel linear ditches which extend roughly WSW / ENE over a total distance of 890m, between ST 9289 0940 and ST 9374 0965. The ditches may define a linear dyke or trackway which extends up the ridge from the river Tarrant in the east.

The dyke or trackway overlaps with a possible later Prehistoric settlement (MDO44553) and with a similar linear feature at ST 9344 0956 (MDO44554). The chronological relationship in each case is not clear from the soilmarks. The cropmark pattern is further complicated by the wear and tear of the annual Dorset Steam Fair which is held in these fields, as visible on aerial photographs taken in 1999. <1>

A ditched linear trackway is visible as cropmarks to the northwest of Tarrant Launceston on aerial photographs <4>. The feature extends for over 970m, with a short spur curving northwards. It crosses from east to west fields between Tarrant Launceston and Blandford Down that contain additional features associated with a possible later prehistoric field system (MDO44553) and a linear cross dyke (MDO44554). The trackway clearly pre-dates the historic field pattern and so could also be of later prehistoric date. At its eastern end it crosses below or over a small rectilinear enclosure (MDO5041), also believed of likely later prehistoric origin. The relationship between all these individual sites is uncertain, based on cropmark evidence alone. The trackway was digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM project. It is also recorded under NRHE Hob UID 1481081.

<1> Bishop, Sharon, 2009, Tarrant Launceston 15 & Environs. Aerial Photograph Survey & Analysis (Unpublished document). SDO12459.

<1.1> Boyden, J R, 25-MAR-1970, NMR ST 9309/5 JRB 9724/ORACLEF15 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19271.

<1.2> National Monuments Record, 08-JUL-1976, NMR ST 9309/10 JRB 3306/7 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18465.

<1.3> 04-MAY-1977, CUCAP CCD24-CCD25 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19272.

<1.4> 13-OCT-1999, NMR ST 9309/21-22 NMR 18458/07-08 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19273.

<2> National Monuments Record, 13-OCT-1999, NMR 18458/07 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18038.

<3> Professor P J Jones, 01-APR-1966, PJF 11361/ORACLE15 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18696.

<4> John Boyden, 08-JUL-1976, JRB 3306/6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18697.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1481081 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 26 2023 7:04AM