Monument record MDO4586 - Prehistoric field system on Pimperne Down, Gunville Down and Tarrant Hinton Down

Fragmentary remains of prehistoric fields found across the northern part of Pimperne Down and into Gunville Down and Tarrant Hinton Down. Most of the remains have been ploughed out and many of the fields are now fragmentary. A bank and ditched field system is visible as cropmarks and low earthworks on aerial photographs and lidar imagery immediately to the north of the enclosure described in MDO4564; it is part of a much wider system of prehistoric fields

An area, centred at ST 895102, of well defined field banks and lynchets from 0.5m to 1.5m high.
On the lower W slopes of Gunville Down at ST 900118 are fragmentary lynchets and field banks probably of Iron Age/Romano-British origin. <1>

On Gunville Down (ST 904119) and extending into Pimperne (ST 904117) are the remains of 'Celtic' fields, now heavily ploughed. They are notably rectangular and elongated (though some internal divisions
may have disappeared) with the long axes aligned NW to SE. <2>

'Celtic' fields, now much damaged by ploughing, survive on Pimperne Down (ST 895104), on the SE slope of a dry valley. They extend in a narrow band NE from the Iron Age enclosure (ST 80 NE 6) towards Pimperne Fox Warren (ST 900109). Most of those fields which are complete vary in area between a quarter of an acre and half an acre. <2-4>

Faint traces of fields are also visible E of Pimperne Wood (ST 912118). <5>

A rapid examination of air photography suggests that the field system extends further southeast, towards the A354. <6>

Part of the field system was crossed by a gas-pipeline exposing a V-shaped ditch 0.75m wide and 0.18m deep at ST 908121. <7>

Ditches seen as cropmarks that may represent a continuation of this field system. Seen as cropmarks in 2007 aerial photography.<8>

A bank and ditched field system is visible as cropmarks and low earthworks on aerial photographs and lidar imagery immediately to the north of the enclosure described in MDO4564 <9-13>; it is part of a much wider system of prehistoric fields.

<1> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 31-DEC-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 119 (Monograph). SDO99.

'GROUP (73) : PIMPERNE DOWN-HINTON BUSHES (Pimperne, Tarrant Gunville, Tarrant Hinton). 'Celtic' fields are traceable over much of the northern part of Pimperne parish and in the adjacent parts of Tarrant Gunville and Tarrant Hinton. They cover some 350 acres and are not continuous though they may formerly have been so. Enclosure in the area, some of them certainly settlements of Iron Age and/or Romano-British date, are likely to be associated with the 'Celtic' fields. (Map in end pocket).
'Celtic' fields, now much damaged by ploughing, survive on Pimperne Down between 275 ft and 380 ft above OD, on the SE slope of a dry valley. They extend in a narrow band NE form the Iron Age enclosure, Pimperne (15), towards Pimperne Fox Warren (900109). Most of those fields which are complete vary in area between 0.25 and 0.5 acres.
To the SW of the foregoing, faint traces of 'Celtic' fields are discernible on Camp Down (around 881089), but they have been much altered by strip ploughing and later cultivation.
To the N, on Gunville Down and extending into Pimperne (904117), are further remains of 'Celtic' fields, now heavily ploughed. They are notably rectangular and elongated (though some internal divisions may have disappeared) with the long axes aligned NW-SE. Faint traces of fields are also visible E of Pimperne Wood.
E of Pimperne Down, towards and around Ferns Plantation (910106), 'Celtic ' fields now almost totally flattened by cultivation occupy the slopes and summit of a spur. Even the smallest of these fields is as much as 1 acre in area.
Further E, S of Hinton Bushes and mainly in Tararnt Hinton parish, a series of elongated 'Celtic' fields and angular closes, now largely flattened, occupy the area between encluser Pimpern (18) and settlement Tarrant Hinton (18), and almost certainly are associated with them. The boundary dyke extending SW form Tarrant Hinton (18) appears to delimit these fields on the S. One of the few complete fields measures 130 yds by 33 yds.
Air photographs : CPE/UK 1845 : 4069-71, 6065-70 ; CPE/UK 1934 : 2159-60, 4154-8 ; CPE/UK 1944 : 2136-8, 2318-20, 3320 ; 58/3250 : 0111, 0136-8.'

<3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1978, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1976, 61 (Serial). SDO76.

'TARRANT GUNVILLE (ST 908121, 923121, 925121). Linear features, part of the Gunville down field system, are reported by the British Gas Corporation.'

<4> Harding, D W, Blake, I M and Reynolds, P J, 1993, An Iron Age Settlement in Dorset; Excavation and Reconstruction, 1 (Article in monograph). SDO12422.

<5> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 4154-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19449.

<6> Miller, Andrew, 1993, RCHME: AP Primary Recording Project, 02-FEB-1993 (Unpublished document). SWX1708.

<6.1> Royal Air Force, 27-04-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/2038 3224-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17750.

<6.2> NMR 4350: 05-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19266.

<7> Catherall, P, Barnett, M, and McClean, H, 1984, The Southern Gas Feeder: the Archaeology of a Gas Pipeline, 194 (Monograph). SDO16637.

<8> 06-JUN-2007, NMR ST 9112/09 NMR 24633/36 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19450.

<9> Environment Agency, 16-NOV-2021, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO18034.

<10> Ordnance Survey, 13-APR-1984, OS/84023 V 23 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18945.

<11> Royal Air Force, 23-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1944 RP 3321 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18946.

<12> National Monuments Record, 30-MAR-1982, NMR 2110/1188 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18947.

<13> National Monuments Record, 06-JUN-2007, NMR 24632/46 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18948.

<14> National Record of the Historic Environment, 206157 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<14> National Record of the Historic Environment, 210171 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<14> National Record of the Historic Environment, 210174 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<14> National Record of the Historic Environment, 887258 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Pimperne Down/survey: Survey of the 'Celtic field system' on Pimperne Down. Encompasses three Parishes; Pimperne, Tarrant Gunville and Tarrant Hinton. Inscription: Subtitled ' Detail of Celtic field Corner'.

Record last edited

Apr 10 2024 3:53PM