Monument record MDO47340 - Medieval settlement of Totcombe, Cerne Abbas

Totcombe was an old Hundred whose court was held in "a valley west of the great road from Sherborne to Dorchester, near the bounds of Cerne and Nether Cerne". <1>

Best <2> considers Totcombe to have once been a village and say that there "are close above the Cerne stream, on the east bank between Cerne Abbas and Nether Cerne, a very prominent terrace or lynchet and other highly artificial-looking ground works on a shelf of the valley (SY 6799). Higher up, and a little further to the east, is a long field sloping up to the edge of the deep re-entrant known as Bramble Bottom, which is named Tatcombe". (This description places the site within a Celtic field system ).

Good simply summarizes the information of the previous two authorities). <3>

<1> Shipp, W, and Hodson, J W (eds), 1870, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. 3rd edition. Volume 4 (Monograph). SDO17392.

<2> 1955, Somerset & Doset Notes & Queries 27 (SDNQ 27), 58 (Article in serial). SDO19118.

<3> Good, R, 1979, Lost Villages of Dorset, 74 (Monograph). SWX1569.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 453016 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 9 2023 3:36PM