Monument record MDO44780 - Iron Age/Romano-British field system, Whitcombe Bottom, Buckland Newton

Celtic fields of Iron Age or Roman date. Modern cultivation has reduced the system to a small area covering seven hectares. A few flint and earth lynchets survive. The features are visible on aerial photographs and Environment Agency lidar agency and were digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Cerne and Piddle Valleys AIM project. The features might continue as the same field system recorded under MDO555.

Centred at ST 675043. An area of well pronounced but scattered field banks and lynchets of Iron Age/Roman British type under rough pasture. <1>

Modern cultivation has reduced the extent of this Celtic field system to a small area centred around Whitcombe Bottom (ST 67700419), and covering an area of seven hectares. Only a few fragmentary flint and earth lynchets up to 1.2m high, and 160.0m long now remain. <2>

The features are visible on aerial photographs and Environment Agency lidar agency <4, 5, 6>. They comprise a focus of curvilinear banks around Whitcombe Bottom and northwards along the flanks of Watts Hill. Some outliers are visible on lidar imagery to the west of Watts Hill. They might be part of, or an extension of, the same field system recorded under MDO555. It is possible that some of the features towards the northern end of the area might be lynchets of medieval origin. The features were digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Cerne and Piddle Valleys AIM project.

<1> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 19-SEP-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<1.1> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 3357-58 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17378.

<2> Attrill, N J, Field Investigators Comments NJA, F2 NJA 28-OCT-76 (Unpublished document). SDO14743.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 198909 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 13-MAR-1995, OS/95033 V 17 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20725.

<5> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 3357-58 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17378.

<6> Environment Agency, 16-NOV-2021, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO18034.

Record last edited

Aug 8 2024 2:46PM