Monument record MDO46621 - Post medieval chalk pits, Fox Holes Wood, Sturminster Marshall

An extensive area of possible post medieval extractive pits within Fox Holes Wood and West Wood, Sturminster Marshall, is visible as earthworks on 1940s aerial photographs and on current Environment Agency lidar imagery. The area is within a band of White Chalk bedrock, which would suggest an area of post medieval chalk extraction. It is also possible that some of the features are the result of the local topography, perhaps altered by subsequent extractive activities. The features were digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM project.

An extensive area of possible post medieval extractive pits within Fox Holes Wood and West Wood, Sturminster Marshall, is visible as earthworks on 1940s aerial photographs (RAF) and on current Environment Agency lidar imagery (2021). The area is within a band of White Chalk bedrock, which would suggest an area of post medieval chalk extraction. The local topography is very disturbed and on lidar alone it is not possible to be certain of the origina dn detail of local features, archaeological or geological. It is therefore also possible that some of the features are the result of the local topography, perhaps altered by subsequent extractive activities. The features were digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM project.

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

Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 V 5137 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19960.

Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall Council, 2022, 2022 AIM Middle Stour HE8422 (Machine readable data file). SDO21760.

Record last edited

Jun 8 2026 3:55PM