Monument record MDO39791 - Modern earthworks and modern enclosures, St Catherine's Hill, Christchurch

A series of grouped semi-circular and sub-circular banked and ditched enclosures are visible on St Catherine's Hill on 1940s aerial photographs and on current Lidar imagery. The features are probably largely modern origin and military in nature. The features were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

A series of grouped semi-circular and sub-circular banked and ditched enclosures are visible on St Catherine's Hill on 1940s aerial photographs and on current Lidar imagery (1, 2 and 3).

The semi-circular banked enclosures vary between 3m and 7m in size and in addition to these are smaller sub-circular ditched features and some rectilinear ditched features, possibly practice trenches. The features form small groups as well as being more widely spread across the slopes of St Catherine's Hill. The features are probably largely modern origin and military in nature, possibly associated with miitary dugouts, practice trenches and possible weapons pits. Alternatively some of the semi-circular banked enclosures may possibly be associated with medieval to post medieval bee gardens, as recorded elsewhere on the Dorset heathland.

The features are under heathland vegetation and tree cover on a 2014 vertical aerial photograph and are not visible (4).

The features were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP.

<1> Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 RP 3271-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15623.

<2> Royal Air Force, 28-MAY-47, RAF/CPE/UK/2102 RP 3280-1 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15624.

<3> XX-XXX-2015, Environment Agency DTM Lidar 1m (Aerial Photograph). SDO15442.

<4> GetMapping, 2014, Digital vertical aerial photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDO14101.

Record last edited

Jan 31 2018 5:24PM