Monument record MDO41005 - Historic field boundary, Woodcutts Farm Cottages, Hinton

A banked linear feature to the west of Woodcutts Farm Cottages is visible on 1940s aerial photographs. The feature is considered likely to be a historic field boundary of possible medieval date, although a later origin is also possible. It was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

A banked linear feature to the west of Woodcutts Farm Cottages is visible on 1940s aerial photographs (1).

The feature is broad and slightly irregular in form. It is situated on the south side of a large irregular historic enclosure recorded on the OS 1st Edition map and whose curvilinear boundaries on its south and east sides are potentially medieval in origin (2). The west side of the enclosure has more regular boundaries, as do the enclosures adjacent to the west, suggesting a phase of later, probably post medieval enclosure. Prior to this this may have been an area of open ground, possibly pasture land.

The feature is considered likely to be a historic field boundary, potentially of medieval date, although a later origin is also possible. Along with the irregular field boundary to its south is appears to form a possible funnel shaped access off the road to the east, which may potentially indicate a former drove road onto the open ground, although this is currently conjectural based on the juxtaposition of the feature with the mapped historic boundary to its south (1 and 2).

The site is still fields on current Google Earth imagery but with significant historic boundary removal since 1947 (1). The feature is not clearly evident as the field is regularly under crops. It was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

<1> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-47, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 RS 4187-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15991.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1864, 1886, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch one (Map). SDO10239.

Record last edited

May 18 2018 9:55AM