Monument record MDO7641 - Shrunken medieval village, East Lulworth

Medieval settlement earthworks covering an area of approximately 12 hectares in Lulworth Park, in the form of banks, platforms and hollows. An estate map of 1770 shows standing houses to the south east of the church, but these were removed around 1790 when the area was cleared to make a landscaped park around Lulworth Castle.

Remains of part of East Lulworth village occur in two places in Lulworth Park.

(i) South east of the parish church, banks platforms and hollows cover about 10 acres. Houses stood here in 1770 (a) but were
destroyed circa 1790 to clear the area of the park (see SY 88 SE 37). In 1959 foundations of buildings were exposed in a
pipe trench at SY 85588206 but finds were mostly of the 18th century. (b). Now in Dorset County Museum.

(ii) Six hundred yards east north east of Lulworth Castle, banks define irregular closes cut by tracks and covering some 3 acres
(SY 85828222). Medieval and later pottery was found here after ploughing.

Blocks of narrow rig divided by banks or narrow tracks cover more than 15 acres immediately north east of the castle (c). <1>

'Lulvorde' or 'Loloworde' mentioned in Domesday 1086 is attributed to East Lulworth by Mills. Various forms of the name are
recorded in documents dating from the 12 th century but the prefix 'Est' or 'East' appears to have been first used in 1268. <2>

Remains of East Lulworth village cover an area of approximately 12.0 ha. Centred at SY 856821. They consist mainly of spread
banks and low scarps, none more than 0.7m. In height, which are probably the boundaries of irregular closes. One or two hollow-ways are visible, notably that from SY 85658209 to SY 85738208 which was the main route from the village to the church but very few boundaries can be related to Sparrow's map (a) q.v., and some may be associated with plots which were disused in 1770.

Beyond the village site fragmentary scarps and banks occur over about 10 ha. Those readily identifiable are depicted on the 1:2500 survey but many others are traceable in low sun.

Few house platforms are identifiable; one is visible at SY 85828229 in the R.C.H.M. area (ii) and northwards, at SY 858824 a series of unsurveyable scarps and depressions may represent Medieval settlement. If so it is likely that they pre-date the newly
discovered Medieval pale (SY 88 SE) within which they are situated; the two can hardly have been in use contemporaneously.
Remains surveyed at 1:2500 (see plan). <4>

Extensive medieval settlement earthworks covering an area of approximately 12 hectares in Lulworth Park. The earthworks comprise spread banks and scarps and well as the remains of parallel ridge and furrow cultivation. The features are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs <5-6> and were digitally plotted during the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 1, 151 (Monograph). SDO148.

‘(27) SETTLEMENT REMAINS, remnants of a part of the old village, occur in two places in Lulworth Park.
(i) S.E. of the parish church, banks, platforms and hollows cover about 10 acres. Houses stood here in 1770 (J. Sparrow, Estate Map of E. Lulworth (1770), in D.C.R.O.) but were destroyed c. 1790 to clear the area of the park (see Monument 3). In 1959 foundations of buildings were exposed in a pipe trench some 80 yds. S.E. of Lulworth castle (85588206); small finds, mostly of the 18th century, are now in D.C.M. (Dorset Procs. LXXXIV (1962), 131.)
(ii) 600 yds. E.N.E. of the castle, banks define irregular closes cut by tracks and covering some 3 acres (85828222). Mediaeval and later pottery was found here after ploughing. The area was meadow in 1770.
Blocks of narrow rig divided by banks or narrow tracks cover more than 15 acres immediately N.E. of the castle. (R.A.F. V.A.P. CPE/UK 1821: 2426.)’

<1.1> Sparrow, J, 1770, Estate Map of East Lulworth (Cartographic materials). SDO14011.

<1.2> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1963, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1962, 131 (Serial). SDO62.

<1.3> Royal Air Force, RAF/CPE/UK/1821 2246-47 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20482.

<2> Mills, A D, 1977, The place-names of Dorset, Part 1: the Isle of Purbeck, the hundreds of Rowbarrow, Hasler, Winfrith, Culliford Tree, Bere Regis, Barrow, Puddletown St George, 122-23 (Monograph). SWX972.

<3> Keen, L, and Carreck, A (eds), 1987 , Historic landscape of Weld: the Weld Estate Dorset. (Monograph). SWX8134.

<4> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 17-JUL-81 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<5> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1984 4241-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13699.

<6> Royal Air Force, 21-JAN-1945, RAF 106G/LA 105 1081-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13700.

<7> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 455500 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:53PM