Monument record MDO45223 - Later prehistoric or medieval trackway, Luton Farm, Tarrant Rawston

A curvilinear ditched and banked hollow way or trackway is visible as an earthwork to the east of Luton Farm on aerial photographs and current Environment Agency lidar imagery. The feature is recorded in the NRHE (Hob UID 209279) as an undated hollow way but may be later prehistoric or possibly medieval in origin. The eastern end of the feature diverges into two ditched trackways that form a rectilinear enclosure against the west side of Stubbs Coppice, recorded as a possible later prehistoric or Roman rectilinear enclosure with a funnelled entrance under NRHE Hob UID 1622756, although this is not certain - the trackways may continue within Stubbs Coppice as MDO45433. The feature was digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM project.

[Centred at ST 95190750] Hollow Way. <1>

A hollow way which can be traced for a distance of some 50.0m. leading up a steep slope. It is some 7.0m. wide and up to 1.3m. deep. It lies in a grass-covered area but the area immediately to the S has been ploughed. <2>

A curvilinear ditched and banked hollow way or trackway is visible as an earthwork to the east of Luton Farm on aerial photographs and current Environment Agency lidar imagery <3,4,5>. The feature comprises a broken line consisting of a central linear ditch flanked by banks on either side, with the broken line of a possible second ditch and outer bank along the south side. The overall feature, over 145m in length, is cut by a minor lane. A further ditched and banked trackway (MDO45248) running from north to south and also cutting the feature, has a smilar form and may be contemporary with or slightly later in date but still be of relatively early origin, perhaps later prehistoric or medieval in date - although a post medieval origin for this feature is also possible. Visible on an aerial photograph dated 1976, and on 2018 Google Earth imagery, one longer section of ditch at the eastern end of the feature curves around the north side of a Bronze Age barrow (MDO5142) and heads east towards Stubbs Coppice, crossing the line of the Roman road between Bath and Bradbury Rings and ending short of the parish boundary earthwork between Tarrant Rawston and Tarrant Rushton (MDO45225) [5, 7]. A corresponding ditch on the southern side appears to curve around the south side of the round barrow, possibly slightly cutting across its southern edge, before curving back towards the northernmost ditch and then turning back on itself south and then sharply east to also disappear into Stubbs Coppice [3, 7]. The feature is crossed by a series of trackway on a north to south alignment that are likely to be of post medieval date (MDO45224).

The feature is recorded in the NRHE (Hob UID 209279) as an undated hollow way but a potential origin may be later prehistoric or medieval. The indication is that the barrow and the Roman road pre-date the feature, or at least the ditched trackways at its eastern end. It may be that the western end is a cross dyke of later prehistoric origin, which saw later re-use into the medieval to post-medieval period, or alternatively the feature may wholly be a hollow way/trackway of either later prehistoric or medieval date. It was digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM project.

The diverging ditches at the eastern end have been recorded as a later prehistoric or Roman rectilinear enclosure under NRHE Hob UID 1622756, with a funnelled entrance where the two ditches converge to pass around the Bronze Age barrow and continue northwest. Although possible, the ditches do appear to correspond with the hollow way/trackway to the west - and may also continue as two near parallel ditched trackways within Stubbs Coppice further to the east (see MDO45433). The reason for such a divergence of the trackway is uncertain.

<1> Crawford, O G S, Annotated record map 6 inch, 9.4.53 (Map). SWX7265.

<2> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 26-MAR-54 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<3> Royal Air Force, 18-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1845 FS 2055 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19154.

<4> Environment Agency, 16-NOV-2021, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO18034.

<5> John Boyden, 08-JUL-1976, JRB 3306/2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19150.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 209279 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<7> Google Earth, 06-JUL_2018, Google Earth Imagery 2018 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19328.

Record last edited

Feb 1 2023 3:43PM