Monument record MDO6529 - Southwell Shaft mound, Portland

Mound of the unsuccessful Southwell Shaft, sunk to find a water supply in 1893. Mound, not precisely identified at Portland, later damaged by the construction of a children's playground. The mound is visible as an earthwork on recent lidar imagery of 2007.

Mound (SY 68357019), on south slope near bottom of broad gully. Diameter about 110ft height 15ft. Flat- topped but irregular, with shelter dug into south west. Not shown on Tithe Map (1841), when in Under Hedge furlong, though Rough Barrow furlong adjacent on south. <1>

SY 68357018. An amorphous grass-covered mound of uncertain date and purpose mutilated by the construction of a children's playground. Diameter 35.0m by 30.0m; height 2.5m maximum. Resurveyed at 1/1250 on MSD. <2>

This is most likely to be the failed Southwell Shaft, sunk to seek a water supply in 1893. A photograph has been published. <3>

Shown on 1901 map <4> with 'W' for well, and as a broad mound in a field in 1926 <5>.

The mound is visible as an earthwork on recent lidar imagery of 2007 <6>. The mound is sub-circular with a hollow on the left hand side. It measures approximately 32 m in diameter. This site was digitally plotted during the South West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (Dorset).

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 482 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘(97) MOUND (SY 697 SE; 68357019), on S. slope near bottom of broad gully. Diam. about 110ft., ht. 15ft. Flat-topped but irregular, with shelter dug into S.W. Not shown on Tithe Map (1841), when in ‘Under Hedge’ furlong, though ‘Rough Barrow’ furlong adjacent on S.’

<2> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 30-JUL-80 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<3> Morris, S, 1985 , Portland, An Illustrated History. , pp106-7 (Monograph). SWX8084.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1901, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, sheet LX.3 (Map). SDO10281.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1929, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, sheet LX.3 (Map). SDO10282.

<6> Channel Coastal Observatory, 31-OCT-2006, Lidar SY6870SW (Aerial Photograph). SDO13035.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 451835 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jun 9 2023 6:11AM