Monument record MDO5378 - Deserted settlement of Chitcombe, Woolland

The remains of the former hamlet of Chitcombe, first recorded in 1327 AD and known to have had three surviving buildings in 1791. Surviving earthworks consist of a hollow way with at least nine closes on either side. Earthworks forming part of the settlement are visible as earthworks on 1940s aerial photographs and Environment Agency lidar imagery and were digitally recorded during the Mid Dorset Downs AIM project.

ST 783070. Settlement remains of the former hamlet of Chitcombe lie immediately west of Chitcombe Farm on the west side of a small valley. The settlement is first recorded in 1327 and three buildings remained on the site in 1791. The site consists of a hollow-way, T-shaped in plan, 30ft wide and 4-6ft deep, with at least nine closes up to 150 yds long on either side; the closes are bounded by low banks and scarps. Visible on-air photographs. <1-2>

Earthworks forming part of the settlement are visible as earthworks on 1940s aerial photographs and Environment Agency lidar imagery (RAF 1945; RAF 1947; EA 2018). The features appear to comprise a number of closes and hollow ways, although the resolution on the available aerial sources is poor in places and definition difficult to achieve.
They were digitally recorded during the Mid Dorset Downs AIM project.

Royal Air Force, 11-APR-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 FP 1178 (Aerial Photograph). SDO21726.

Royal Air Force, 27-MAR-1945, RAF/106G/LA 200 FP 1068 (Aerial Photograph). SDO21695.

Environment Agency, xx-xxx-2018, Environment Agency National Lidar Programme DTM 1M (Aerial Photograph). SDO21483.

<1> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 316 (Monograph). SDO136.

'(5) Settlement Remains (783070), of the former hamlet of Chitcombe, lie immediately W. of Chitcombe Farm on the W. side of a small valley. The settlement is first recorded in 1327 (Fägersten, 192) and three buildings remained on the site in 1791 (Map of Woolland, D.C.R.O.; Hutchins IV, 419). The site consists of a hollow-way, T-shaped in plan, 30 ft. wide and 4 ft. to 6 ft. deep, with at least nine closes up to 150 yds. long on either side; the closes are bounded by low banks and scarps.'

<2> Royal Air Force, 11-APR-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974, 1177-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13181.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1994, Medieval Village Research Group Index (Index). SDO16386.

<4> Historic England, National Record of the Historic Environment, 201785 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 19 2026 4:44PM