Monument record MDO44781 - Iron Age/Romano-British field system south of Rousiball Lane,

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. Banked linear features associated with a probable Iron Age/Romano-British field system that extend over an area of nearer 31 hectates are visible on aerial photographs and current Environment Agency lidar imagery, which suggest there might be greater survival than previously recorded, although still much ploughed out in areas. The features were digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Cerne and Piddle Valleys AIM project.

Centred at ST 68220424. An area of rough pasture which exhibits fairly pronounced traces of IA/RB type field banks and lynchets between the 600ft and 700ft contours. <1>

At ST 68580403, north of Ford Down Lane, traces of irregular, close-set terraces, up to 130 yards long and set in arable land, may mark the site of a settlement. Romano-British tiles and coarse pottery have been found scattered on the fields to the south. <2> This settlement has also been recorded separately under MDO566.

Modern ploughing has greatly reduced the extent of the Celtic field system. Only a few flint and earth, contour-following lynchets up to 0.5m high and 90.0m long and covering an area of three hectares around ST 68470456 now remain. The terraces at ST 68580403 described by <2> have now been ploughed out. <3>

Centred at ST 68130428. Banked linear features associated with a probable Iron Age/Romano-British field system that extend over an area of nearer 30 hectates are visible on aerial photographs and current Environment Agency lidar imagery, which suggest there might be greater survival than previously recorded, although still much ploughed out in areas. The features were digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Cerne and Piddle Valleys AIM project. <5, 6, 7>

<1> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 15-SEP-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<1.1> Royal Air Force, 11-01-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 3355-56 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17386.

<2> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 326 (Monograph). SDO136.

<3> Attrill, N J, Field Investigators Comments NJA, F2 NJA 29-OCT-76 (Unpublished document). SDO14743.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 198932 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<5> Royal Air Force, 01-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 RP 3356 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20724.

<6> Ordnance Survey, 13-MAR-1995, OS/95033 V 17 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20725.

<7> Environment Agency, 16-NOV-2021, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO18034.

Record last edited

Jul 24 2024 11:24AM