Monument record MDO41371 - Possible post medieval field boundary, Northbourne, Bournemouth

A banked linear feature in a field on the north side of Northbourne is visible on 1940s aerial photographs. The feature may be a historic field boundary of possible post medieval origin, although a later date is also possible. The feature is situated within an area of in-progress housing development in 1945, which may have been suspended due to the Second World War. It is possible the feature is modern in date and associated with the intended housing and garden layout. It was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

A banked linear feature in a field on the north side of Northbourne is visible on 1940s aerial photographs (1).

The feature is narrow and rectilinear in character and is angled to form three sides of a 34m by 27m rectangle. It is situated within a historic enclosure recorded on the OS 1st Edition map, which in 1945 appears to be in the process of development; several houses to the south line the north side of what is now Kinson Park Road whilst the layout of the south end of Markham Avenue, Castleton Avenue and North Avenue is visible in outline. It may be that the housing development at this location was suspended for the duration of the Second World War and the layout plan visible in 1945 reflects its pre-war extent (1).

The feature may be a historic field boundary of probable post medieval origin, although a later date is possible. Alternatively, It is possible the feature is a boundary of modern date, associated with the suspended housing development layout; the feature broadly corresponds with the north, west and south external boundaries of three neighbouring garden plots on the west side of Markham Avenue (2).

The site is fully developed on Google Earth imagery and the feature is no longer visible. It was digitally plotted from 1940s aerial photographs by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

<1> Royal Air Force, 20-MAR-45, RAF/106G/LA/187 RS 4041-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16098.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 scale map (Map). SDO17396.

Record last edited

Aug 15 2018 1:42PM