Monument record MDO2816 - Deserted medieval settlement, Up Cerne

Earthworks visible on aerial photographs taken in 1947, and thought likely to be a medieval settlement. Banked rectilinear features to the northwest of Up Cerne, alongside an area of possible ridge and furrow or strip field, are visible as earthworks on 1940s aerial photographs. The features were digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Cerne and Piddle AIM project.

'A' centred: ST 65630301; 'B' centred: ST 65640284; under grass with field banks, scarps and several platform enclosures which suggest depopulation in the Medieval period or later. <1>

The areas have been bulldozed in recent years. Both are arable and under crops but show no evidence of any banks or platforms. <2>

Banked rectilinear features to the northwest of Up Cerne, alongside an area of possible ridge and furrow or strip field, are visible as earthworks on 1940s aerial photographs [4]. The features form a series of rectilinear enclosures that may be part of medieval crofts. Also visible on 1940s aerial photographs is an area of possible medieval strip field or ridge and furrow, comprising a series of slightly S-shaped ridges approximately 15m apart within an exisiting field. The features were digitally plotted during the Dorset Upper Cerne and Piddle AIM project.

The features are no longer visible on current Environment Agency lidar imagery.

<1> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, 19-SEP-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<1.1> Royal Air Force, 11-APR-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1975 1048-9 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17361.

<2> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, 28-OCT-76 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 198881 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<4> Royal Air Force, 11-APR-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1975 1048-9 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17361.

Record last edited

Aug 8 2024 2:41PM