Monument record MDO31376 - Historic trackways, New Mills Heath, Corfe Castle

A group of historic trackways are visible as cropmarks and earthworks on aerial photographs (1-3) and Lidar imagery (4) of New Mills Heath, Corfe Castle. These features were digitally plotted during the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project.

<1> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1821 4404-05 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13636.

<2> National Monuments Record, 25-JUL-1996, SY 9584/4 NMR 15557/01 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13643.

<3> Dorset County Council, 2002, VAP (Aerial Photograph). SDO13141.

<4> Geomatics, 2011, Lidar DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO13637.

<5> Papworth, M, 1992, Middlebere, Corfe Castle Estate, Dorset. Wessex Region, 28 (Unpublished document). SWX1394.

Infra-red photographs held by the National Rivers Authority (Poole Office ref. 6600,6601) show a complexity of cropmarks (Fig. 14) across the area adjacent and to the east of the Neolithic flint scatter (112761). These features were noted during archaeological work by the Trust for Wessex Archaeology along the line of a BP pipeline (Cox and Hearne 1991 p46). At least two field systems seem to be represented. The earlier of these systems comprises of eight parallel cropmarks aligned north-south and spaced 25 – 40m apart. The northern extent of these cropmarks is unclear as they appear to be overlain by the enclosures 112252 but the longest cropmark is approximately 400m. No lateral component appears to be associated with this system Morphologically, this series of cropmarks bears very close resemblance to a field system of Early/Middle Bronze Age date excavated East of Corfe River which lies 1.5km to the north-east. Beyond morphological attributes the topographic location of the New Mills system bears close similarities to that on the east bank, in that both extend across level ‘plains’ adjacent to the river valley (see also 112764). There was no trace of the site on the ground when visited 17/7/1992.

Record last edited

Oct 4 2021 7:03PM