Monument record MDO935 - Settlement enclosures, Compton Bottom, Compton Valence

Three rectilinear banked enclosures are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. They are possibly the remains of a deserted settlement of prehistoric or medieval origin.

A sub-square banked enclosure, 21m by 19m in size, is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs on the top of the ridge to the north of Compton Valence. A gap in it's eastern side may be the location of an entrance. 135m to the north lie two more (conjoined) enclosures. These features are associated with a field system of probable prehistoric origin and are considered likely to be the remains of a contemporay deserted settlement. {1-2}

<1> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 4096-7 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11097.

<2> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 4145-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11096.

<3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1953, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1952, 92 (Serial). SDO52.

'Settlements at Compton Valence. A native settlement about one mile N.W. of Compton Valence church is recorded in R.C.H.M., Dorset, Vol. I, p. 105. Examination of the Air Ministry's 1:10,000 scale air photographs, available since the Royal Commission's survey of West Dorset was completed, have revealed the presence of another unususpected settlement associated with remains of a field system and ancient trackway, at SY(30)/597936, on the summit of the hill about 600 yards N.E. of the church.'

Record last edited

May 17 2024 11:53AM