Monument record MDO5427 - Didlington deserted village, Chalbury

Deserted settlement remains to the north east of Didlington Farm, identified with Dedilintone in the Domesday book. It is reported that pottery of fourteenth or fifteenth-century date has been found in the area. Earthworks associated with the settlement are visible on aerial photographs taken in 1946, they were digitally plotted during the Dorset Stour NMP.

Earthworks associated with the settlement are visible on aerial photographs taken in 1946 <2>. By 1989 the site was under regular plough and irregular cropmarks are visible <3>. They were digitally plotted during the Dorset Stour NMP. Faint traces of the features are still visible on lidar imagery <4> despite the field being under regular plough.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 3 (Monograph). SDO129.

'(8) SETTLEMENT REMAINS of Didlington village (007077) lie N.E. of Didlington Farm on a terrace of the R. Allen. In Domesday, Dedilintone has a recorded population of 23 (V.C.H., Dorset iii, 83), but this certainly included people living at Chalbury; the combination in later documents of Chalbury population figures with those of Didlington makes estimate of population impossible. By c. 1770 only Didlington Farm remained (map and view by I. Taylor, B.M. maps, 2159 (25); D.C.R.O., 1930, 23, 8).

The somewhat indistinct earthworks cover about 5 acres and include a large rectangular platform, due E. of the farm. To the N.E. two rectangular closes, 20 yds. to 25 yds. square, are cut back into a gentle slope; they are bounded by low banks and scarps up to 4 ft. high, and one close appears to retain traces of building platforms. Pottery of the 14th or 15th century and later has been found in the area.'

<2> Royal Air Force, 18-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1845 RS 4044-5 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15688.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 05-MAY-1989, OS/89135 V 3383-4 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15715.

<4> XX-XXX-2015, Environment Agency DTM Lidar 1m (Aerial Photograph). SDO15442.

<5> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1994, Medieval Village Research Group Index, PRN 487 (Index). SDO16386.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 213044 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 21 2021 4:20PM