Monument record MDO46877 - Enclosure, Nether Cerne

Sub-rectilinear/sub-oval enclosure, of unknown date, seen as a cropmark on aerial photographs. The enclosure is visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs and as faint earthworks on current Environment Agency lidar imagery. The feature was digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Cerne and Piddle Valleys AIM project

SY 681 980 (FCE) A rapid examination of air photography suggests the presence of a curvilinear enclosure on the east side of East Hill. There is also a possible rectilinear enclosure on its south side and the whole may represent a settlement of Prehistoric or Roman date. The features are visible as cropmarks. <1>

A curvilinear/sub-oval ditched and banked enclosure is visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs and as faint earthworks on current Environment Agency lidar imagery. The feature appears to comprise a 150m by 110m banked enclosure consisting of a broken or segmented curvilinear bank with breaks visible on the east and west sides and almost diametrically opposed on the north and south sides. The bank sections correspond almost precisely with external ditch sections on the north side and internal ditch sections on the south side. Based on morphology and relationship, the enclosure could potentially be of Bronze Age to Iron Age date. Two banked linears with external ditches extend from the south side of the enclosure and could potentially be part of an additional rectilinear enclosure, or alternatively part of a later prehistoric field system (MDO49062) within which the features are situated. The features were digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Cerne and Piddle Valleys AIM project.

<1> Miller, Andrew, RCHME/EH/HE Aerial Photographers comment AM, 15-FEB-1993 (Verbal communication). SDO17356.

<1.1> National Monuments Record, NMR 4436: 22 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20015.

<1.2> National Monuments Record, NMR 4527: 61-4 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20016.

<2> National Record of the Historic Environment, 983950 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<3> National Monuments Record, 11-JUL-1989, NMR 4527/61 (Aerial Photograph). SDO21042.

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

Record last edited

Mar 14 2025 9:00AM