Monument record MDO7852 - Possible medieval deer park, Moreton

Moreton Park is mentioned in the Curia Regis Rolls of 1259 and for topographical suitability was though to lie south-west of Moreton House, partly coinciding with the later parkland (Moreton Park at SY 805888 on OS 6" 1902). A linear earthwork was found south of the bridle road running west from Broomhill Bridge and seemed a good line for the southern side of the park, particularly in its eastern part.

'A'-'D' (see plan). Broad rounded bank with flattish top and noticeably steeper inner face, 2-3 ft high and 17-20 ft wide dwindling to only 11 ft wide at point 'D'. The bank generally retains the same profile throughout and is characteristic of a park boundary, except between 'C'-'D' where it contorts. It seems that between 'A'-'D' the bridle path has obliterated the ditch, for west of 'B' there is a clear ditch on the north side of the bank. A short distance to the south of section 'C'-'D' is an additional bank ('X'-'Y') of very similar profile to the main bank, but somewhat smaller; this earthwork lies partly in water-logged ground. North of point 'E' there appears to be no trace of bank, and dense plantation and a steep downhill slope make it difficult to find the end of the hedge line marked 'E'-'F'-'G'; this hedgeline was thought to represent the possible course of the north-west side of the park, although where it is clear of the wood the hedge shows no signs of any unusual bank or ditch. No traces have been found of the eastern side of the park which may have lain along one of the tributaries of the river Frome, or more likely along the curving line of the parkland road from Broomhill Bridge to Moreton village.

Cantor and Wilson concluded that in spite of the shortcomings; they were inclined to take line 'B'-'C'-'D'-'E' as the park bank, though with obvious reservations. Plan. <1>

'A': SY 80288824 to 'B': SY 80098826. A bank 5.5 metres wide and 0.4 metres high, the south side of a sunken bridle road. It is broken at 'B' for 30 metres where a ditch 6m. wide and 0.8 metres deep,may represent the earlier course of the road. From here towards C SY 79608817 the bank is 3.5 metres wide, 0.5 metres high, with a ditch 1.5 metres wide and 0.2 metres deep on the north side, following the southern crest of a low spur. Much of the ditch has been destroyed by gravel workings which utilize the bank as a boundary as far as SY 79698821,beyond which point both bank and ditch are destroyed as far as 'C'.

'C' to 'D': SY 79298819. A bank and ditch of similar proportions, intermittently destroyed by diggings.

'D' to 'E': SY 79218839. Similar, but the ditch is on the outer, W. side, and the whole is destroyed from SY 79218830 northwards.

'E' to 'F': SY 79548894 and 'G': SY 79708901, a normal field hedge.

'X': SY 79618810 to 'Y' SY 79358823. A bank 3 metres wide and 0.5 metres high bordering the north side of a stream.

Several plantation banks of similar size to the conjectured pale branch southwards from it, and where bank and ditch has been sectioned by gravel workings it appears little altered from its original state. Apart from continuity, now much interrupted, the earthwork is not particularly convincing as a medieval pale. No survey action taken on M.S.D. <2>

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1967, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1966, 180-181 (Serial). SDO66.

<2> Attrill, N J, Field Investigators Comments NJA, F1 NJA 09-JUL-81 (Unpublished document). SDO14743.

<3> Smith, R J C, 1990, Archaeological Observations on the Route of the East-West Dorset Link Main 1989 (Unpublished document). SDO180.

‘Observation 3: SY 80198825 (Fig. 1). West of Broomhill Bridge the pipeline route twice crossed the inferred southern side of Moreton Deer Park recorded in documentary evidence from 1259 (Cantor and Wilson, 1966). Observations during construction failed to identify any possible earthwork associated with this feature north-west of Broomhill Bridge (SY 80898820). However the pipeline route, 0.7 km to the west (Fig. 1, Observation 3), cut through a broad rounded bank that has been suggested to be a component of the southern deer park boundary ditch (ibid). Observations during construction at this point, recorded the bank to a height of at least 1m; a possible ditch, no more than 1m deep, was identified to the north of the bank underlying and heavily disturbed by the trackway, which currently leads from Broomhill Bridge to Red Bridge. No material was recovered from either feature and correspondingly little can be added to the limited evidence for the southern extent of this deer park as described by Cantor and Wilson (1966). It is also at this point that the pipeline crossed the projected line of the Roman road from Lake Farm to Dorchester (N.H.Field, pers.comm.). However, there was no surviving evidence to suggest this ditch may have been associated with this roadway.
A further undated ditch was recorded 100m to the east of Observation 3, (SY 80298827), in the south-west corner of the large field south of Fir Hill. The ditch was aligned approximately north-south, and was V-profiled, 3m wide and 1m deep from the base of the topsoil.’

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 455346 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

May 17 2023 7:04AM