Monument record MDO595 - Medieval strip lynchets, Burton Freshwater, Burton Bradstock

Lynchets with the terraces divided by a cross-balk about 90 yards from the cliff. The system of medieval strip fields is visible on historical aerial photographs and modern lidar.

Lynchets on the north and west slopes of the hill half a mile west of the church, extend to the cliff on the west. The terraces are divided by a cross-balk about 90 yards from the cliff. To the west of it there are three main terraces interrupted by the cliff, about 18 yards wide and 2 ½ feet high. To the east of the balk, the system is irregular but there are two main terraces. <1>

Regularly spaced parallel and well defined grass covered strip lychets occur in area A [centred at SY 480895].
These lynchets are from 0.5m to 0.2m high, and follow the line of the contours. In area B [centred at SY 481894] The strip lychets run in an EW direction and average 0.5m high. These are also grass covered. Both areas are of Md. Type lynchets. <3>

The system of medieval strip fields is visible on historical aerial photographs and modern lidar <4-5>. It was digitally plotted during the South West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (Dorset).

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 60 (Monograph). SDO97.

<2> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F1 JR 21-MAR-55 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<3> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F2 NVQ 23-APR-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<4> Channel Coastal Observatory, 25-FEB-2009, Lidar (Aerial Photograph). SDO12879.

<5> Royal Air Force, 07-JUN-1942, RAF AC53 7-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDO12990.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 449831 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 6 2024 4:36PM