Monument record MDO47584 - Post-medieval ridge and furrow on Hambledon Hill, Child Okeford

Slight traces of probable Post Medieval narrow ridge-and-furrow field system within Hambledon Hill hillfort (ST 81 SW 10). The earthworks on Hambledon Hill were surveyed by RCHME in 1996. Within the hillfort interior, the survey recorded very slight traces of narrow ridge and furrow cultivation laid out in six or seven small fields, mostly on the more level ground. The furrows are on average between 5 and 6 metres apart, and in some cases exhibit a slight "reverse-S" in their courses. Some of the field boundaries are aligned on Bronze Age round barrows, and the best preserved barrow lies at a nodal point in the field system. The poor survival of the rest of the barrows and some of the Iron Age house platforms in the interior is due to the ploughing. However, the very slight development of most of the ridges indicates that the fields were only cultivated for a few seasons. For this reason, and given the narrow width of the ridges, a Napoleonic date seems most likely.

(Various NGRs) Between late May and late August 1996 the Cambridge and Exeter offices of RCHME carried out an earthwork survey and aerial photographic interpretation of the complex of monuments on Hambledon Hill as part of the project to record Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic period.

Within the interior of the Iron Age hillfort RCHME recorded very slight traces of narrow ridge and furrow cultivation laid out in six or seven small fields, mostly on the more level ground. The furrows are on average between 5m and 6m apart, and in some cases exhibit a slight 'reverse-S' in their courses. Some of the field boundaries are aligned on Bronze Age round barrows, and the best preserved barrow in the interior lies at a nodal point in the field system. The poor survival of the rest of the barrows and some of the Iron Age house platforms in the is due to the ploughing. However, the very slight development of most of the ridges indicates that the fields were only cultivated for a few seasons. For this reason, and given the narrow width of the ridges, a Napoleonic date seems most likely.

For further details, see RCHME Level 3 client report and plan at 1:1000 scale, held in Archive. (1)

<1> RCHME: Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic (Monograph). SWX1665.

<2> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Historic England Archive AF1079113 RCHME: Hambledon Hill, Dorset (Excavation archive). SDO20294.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1058887 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 21 2023 9:13AM