Monument record MDO21627 - Iron Age/Romano-British field system, West Compton

A location of British settlement. <1>

Field systems plotted from air photographs. <3>

A Celtic field system along the scarp of a re-entrant valley on the Seof Eggardon Hill, half mile NW of Compton Abbas church. It covers about 65 acres and has well marked scarps. <4>

Centred at SY 55309485. An area of pronounced field banks and lynchets forming irregular enclosures of Iron Age/Romano British type. The system has lynchets up to 3.0m high, and is under grass. No hut sites or evidence of habitation was found during investigation, and the description in Authy 2 appears to be incorrect. Visible on AP RAF/CPE/UK/2431 4152. <5>

A good set of Celtic fields on slope of hill. The pattern of squarish shapes is very clear from the other side of the valley. <6>

ST (Should be SY) 549948 - 560950. Lynchets W of Eggardon Hill Farm. <8>

Celtic field fragments occur in most parts of the parish's downland which encircles the village. An elaborate series of main scarps remain from SY 557945 to SY 563948 although no settlement survives. The scarps continue to the W around the head of the combe and along the S side above the 600 ft contour (see SY 59 SE 1). Rarely are
individual fields intact. Strip lynchets impinge at SY 552947 and some of the Celtic fields were reploughed in a post-medieval phase. <9>

A Celtic field system of Iron Age or Roman origin is visible as earthworks and cropmarks on aerial photographs. Some field lynchets are marked on the OS 1st edition map (annotated 'British Village (Site of)').{1-4}

<1> Warne, C, 1872, Ancient Dorset (2nd Edition), 30 (Monograph). SWX1971.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1903 (Map). SWX1540.

(Name SY 55359465) British Village (NR) (Site of)(NAT)

<3> Atkinson, R J C, 1949, spec 6 inch (RJCA 1.3.49) (Map). SWX1583.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 99 (Monograph). SDO97.

<5> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 23-MAY-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<6> Department of the Environment, Inspector of Ancient Monuments (IAM) Record Form, July 1957 (Scheduling record). SDO17470.

<7> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 scale map, 1975 (Map). SDO17396.

(Centred SY 553947) Field System (NR)

<8> Department of the Environment, 1978, Department of the Environment (IAM) Ancient Monuments of England (Vol 2), 78 (Monograph). SWX1687.

<9> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Unpublished revision RCHME Dorset I (West) Undated (West Compton file) (Unpublished document). SDO19799.

<9.1> Bowen, H C, Letter & Notes on Visit with David Sherlock IAM on 18.06.70 (H C Bowen 25.06.70) (Unpublished document). SDO19800.

<10> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 4151-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11074.

<11> 1972, DCC 212-0091 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11301.

<12> 28-JUN-2000, SY5594/9-11 (18767/15-7) (Aerial Photograph). SDO11300.

<13> 13-APR-1984, NMR OS/84024 146-7 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11299.

<14> National Record of the Historic Environment, 450931 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

May 2 2023 4:56PM