Monument record MDO88 - Prehistoric field system on Watcombe Plain and West Hill, Alton Pancras and Piddletrenthide

A Celtic field system; there is no sign of habitation, except the small enclosure near Watcombe Wood. <2>

A: Centred at ST 71170311.B: Centred at ST 71080304. An area of pronounced IA/RB field banks and lynchets visible on RAF Aps.
As stated there is no indication of habitation in the area, which is now under rough pasture. There are two areas of superimposed field systems.
A: Here there are a number of Md strip lynchets, parallel, long and straight and all set in a NE-SW direction except one which runs towards Watcombe Bottom in a NW-SE direction.
At B there is some narrow rig and furrow ploughing, which may be Md or later. Its relation to the strip lynchets could not be decided during investigation. The detail portrayed on the OS 6" 1903 as a 'British Village' is in fact part of the field system. <4>

(ST 71240345) Field System (NR) (Subsequent publication). Part of RCHM Group (42) "Celtic" fields. On Watcombe Plain there is clear evidence of narrow rig, overlying strip lynchets, overlying the "Celtic" fields. A double lynchet track, contemporary with the earliest fields,leads up to a curving bank and disturbed area, at ST 712035, suggestive of a settlement, being a suitable situation in itself and relative to neighbouring settlements. <5-6>

The Celtic field system poorly defined on OS air photographs (b), remains as described by Authorities 5 and 6. Two circular features which fall within the possible settlement area noted by RCHM at ST 712035, may represent the remains of huts. One at ST 71280349 is terraced into the northwest/southeast slope and hooded on its uphill side. It has an internal diam of 6.0m and shows a high stone content in its rim. A large oak tree grows roughly central. The second feature at ST 71250352 is much less pronounced, being no more than a circular hollow 11.0m in diam and 0.3m deep. The interior is disturbed by rabbits, and the whole is nettle covered.

The "small enclosure near Watcombe Wood" is now classified by RCHM as a 'U'-earthwork (see ST 70 SW 3). Hut features surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. <7>

ST 712033. Field system and settlement on Watcombe Plain. Scheduled. <8-9>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1903 (Map). SWX1540.

(ST 71240345) British Village (OE) (Site of)

<2> RCHM Mss file (Unpublished document). SWX2467.

<3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1908, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club for 1907, liii (Serial). SDO17439.

'A prehistoric settlement'

<4> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 13-SEP-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<4.1> Royal Air Force, 1975, RAF/CPE/UK/1975 1039-40 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17454.

<5> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1962 (Map). SWX1540.

<6> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 328 (Monograph). SDO136.

‘Group (42): Watcombe Plain—West Hill (Alton Pancras and Piddletrenthide. Plan, p. 328; Plate 86). 'Celtic' fields are traceable over about 190 acres on the spur of Lower to Upper Chalk that runs for 2 miles N.N.E. from East Hill, Piddletrenthide, to Church Hill, Alton Pancras, rising from 500 ft. to about 760 ft. above O.D., ST 70450085–705023–715035–713026. The pattern is fragmentary, some prominent lynchets being allowed to survive out of convenience, but it is continuous from West Hill to Church Hill. The best preserved 'Celtic' fields and a double-lynchet track are on West Hill, W. of the contemporary settlement Piddletrenthide (43), (see plan, p. 220). To the E., strip lynchets lie over 'Celtic' lynchets. On Watcombe Plain there is particularly clear evidence of a sequence comprising narrowrig overlying strip lynchets, overlying 'Celtic' fields. Old quarry pits have been dug into some of the larger lynchets. Stretches of a reused track, contemporary with the 'Celtic' fields, lead to the site of a possible settlement in the area of (a), on Church Hill (712035). There are traces of low banks and scarps on the ridge between this site and enclosure Alton Pancras (19), but no visible relationship with that enclosure.
Lynchets are up to 8 ft. high on West Hill. Some fields are marked by banks running against the slope, but in places the appearance of banks is produced by secondary ploughing behind a lynchet head; this also makes it difficult to be sure of original field measurements. Changes of arrangement contemporary with the settlement are indicated by the fact that the double lynchet track, in places 10 ft. wide with an uphill lynchet up to 5 ft. high, crosses the first-phase lynchet of a field, immediately S. of the settlement, in which continued ploughing has built up a new lynchet against the track edge. On Watcombe Plain lynchets are up to 15 ft. high. The bank (n), 6 ft. across and 2 ft. high, with a ditch partly visible on the S. side, is at the southern limit of narrow-rig and strip lynchets. It lies on a 'Celtic' field boundary. The track W. of this is 10 ft. wide, edged by a bank 7 ft. wide and 1 ft. high on the W. and by scarp increasing from 1½ ft. to 6 ft. high on the E. It is almost destroyed by cultivation in places, but it assumes double-lynchet form, with 'Celtic' fields clearly associated, N. of Watcombe Plain. The bank curving eastwards at (a) on Church Hill, continuing the line of the track, is 14 ft. wide and up to 2½ ft. high. The area is much disturbed. The factors suggesting settlement hereabouts include the curved bank, the track leading towards it, the suitability of the situation, and its spacing relative to Piddletrenthide (43) and the probable settlement on Ball Hill (Group (43), area (a)).
Air photographs: CPE/UK 1975: 1040–2; Cambridge University Collections, verticals, K. 17, E. 152, 158–9 and obliques, LR 38–40, 42; AND 14–16, ANF 46–9; AAU 11–13.’

<7> Barrett, G, Various, Field Investigators Comments GB, F2 GB20-OCT-78 (Unpublished document). SDO17369.

<7.1> Ordnance Survey, OS 74/058/047-48 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17447.

<8> DOE, 1978, Scheduled Monument Notification DOE (IAM) AMs Eng 2 1978, 75 (Scheduling record). SDO17448.

<9> Department of the Environment, DOE (IAM) Ancient Monuments Record Form, 1969 (Index). SDO17347.

<10> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1963, Monuments Threatened or Destroyed. A Select List: 1956-1962, 14 (Monograph). SDO12558.

‘ALTON PANCRAS. WEST HILL [ST 704023] ‘Celtic’ fields and strip-lynchets.’

<10.1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 883035 (Monograph). SDO97.

Watcombe Plain, West Hill `Celtic' Fields, Dorset. Publication proof, ink on acetate. 314 written on the acetate in pcl. Inscription: Celtic Field Group 42.Bibliographic References : 1) Pt 2, Group (42).

<11> Historic England, Historic England Archive (Index). SDO14738.

<12> National Record of the Historic Environment, 201954 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 7 2022 3:46PM