Monument record MDO5134 - Linear earthwork, Tarrant Rawston

Linear ditch visible as a soil mark on air photographs running NNE and then turning west around the western and northern sides of an Iron Age / Roman enclosed settlement. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water. The linear earthwork is visible as cropmarks on an aerial photograph dated 1976. It appears to continue to the north northeast as a pose to turning east - a separate linear ditch on an aerial photograph dated 1948 suggests a feature, possibly a field boundary associated with the enclosed settlement to the southeast - MDO5133. The features were digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM Project.

The linear earthwork is visible as cropmarks on an aerial photograph dated 1976 <2>. The visible section appears to run for 380m from southwest to northeast, then angle slightly further north northeast for approximately 170m. The original record suggests it continues more easterly but an aerial photograph dated 1948 suggests this may be a separate linear ditch, possibly a field boundary associated with the enclosed settlement to the southeast - MDO5133 [3]. The features were digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM Project.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 111 (Monograph). SDO99.

'(5) Linear Ditch (92920651-93250693), 150 yds. W. of (4), can be traced as a soilmark on air photographs (N.M.R., ST 9306/3, 4); it extends for some 600 yds. From S.W. to N.E. across a broad Chalk ridge. For other linear ditches, See Tarrant Keyneston (18), (19).'

<2> John Boyden, 08-JUL-1976, JRB 3304/7 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18058.

<3> Royal Air Force, 01-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 RS 4318 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18474.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 209453 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 16 2023 11:41AM