Monument record MDO41191 - Post medieval trackways, Canford Magna, Poole

Multiple series of ditched linear trackways on the open heath to the south of Canford Magna are visible on 1940s aerial photographs. The majority of these features are presumed to be post medieval in date, although some may be later in origin. Some of the trackways may be associated with extensive post medieval extraction on the heath but some may alternatively be associated with military activity during the two World Wars. The features were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

Multiple series of ditched linear trackways on the open heath to the south of Canford Magna are visible on 1940s aerial photographs (1 and 2).

The features comprise multiple ditched linears of various lengths that parallel to each other or at converging angles. Many link in with trackways or routeways across the heath recorded on the OS 1st Edition map (3). The majority of these features are presumed to be post medieval in date, some being clearly associated with areas of extensive post medieval extraction. Others may be later in origin, probably, but not necessarily exclusively, associated with military activity during the two World Wars. In the northeast area of the group there are some linears that appear to be overlain by a World War Two bomb decoy site (MDO41179), although the precise relationship between these two sets of features is not absolutely clear from aerial photographs alone (2).

The majority of features are still within areas of open heath on current Google Earth imagery and many are still visible in places, although not all; these may be levelled but may just be obscured by vegetation. The features were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP.

<1> Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 RP 3254-5 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16055.

<2> Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 RP 3255-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16029.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1864, 1886, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch one (Map). SDO10239.

Record last edited

Jan 6 2020 10:45AM