Monument record MDO47702 - Trackway, Batcombe Hill to Gore Hill, Batcombe

(ST 635038-SY 642937). A pre-Roman trackway leaves the Great Ridgeway on Batcombe Hill and extends south-south-east over Gore Hill and Ridge Hill to Crete Hill. From this point, Timperley and Brill suggested that the trackway proceeded through the settlement on Grimstone Down (SY 69 NW 38) before descending to the River Frome at Muckleford. They also supposed that the trackway originally extended further south-west from Muckleford towards Black Down, where it joined the Coastal Ridgeway. Good, however, believed that the trackway continued south-eastwards from Crete Hill towards the river at Wrackleford (SY 668928) and headed towards Maiden Castle. The route favoured by Timperley and Brill (via Muckleford to Black Down) was described by Good as part of a Medieval road from Abbotsbury to Cerne Abbas (see SY 69 SW 63) with no mention of having had pre-Roman origin. Taylor's map of 1756 marks the trackway (as a complete road) for four miles over Gore Hill and annotates it as 'Furzey Down Road'. <1-2>

<1> Timperley, H W, and Brill, E, 1965, Ancient Trackways of Wessex, 47-48 (Monograph). SDO18527.

<2> Good, R, 1966, Old Roads of Dorset, 23, 34, 68, 71-2 (Monograph). SWX1178.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 452996 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 8 2024 12:58PM