Monument record MDO5543 - Deserted Medieval village of Brockington, Gussage All Saints

Earthworks of deserted medieval settlement known as Brockington, immediately north east of Brockington Farm. The settlement survives as a series of earthworks spread across an area of about 2 hectares. The settlement includes two well-defined hollow ways which are likely to represent roads or droveways. The first lies to the north and extends for about 200 metres. It is bounded on either side by a series of nine or ten enclosures or 'closes' which may represent individual house platforms/scoops. A second hollow way lies to the east and runs for a length of 150 metres. Population and date of desertion not known. The earthworks are visible on 1950s aerial photographs and on current Lidar imagery and were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

(19) Settlement Remains of Brockington (020108) lie on the N.W. bank of the R. Allen in the extreme E. of the parish. No separate record oocurs in the 14th-century Subsidy Rolls or in the 17th-century Hearth Tax Returns and it is impossible to assess the population or date of desertion. The remains indicate that before desertion the settlement grew at some period into a small hamlet (plan opp. p. 113).
The remains include a well-defined hollow-way which extends N.E. from (7) [Note: ie MDO45004] for some 220 yds. and meets a similar hollow-way approaching from the S.E. Flanking the hollow-ways, and bounded by low banks and scarps, are nine or possibly ten rectangular closes, most of them with low rectangular scoops or platforms, the sites of former buildings. On the N.E. of the site, and also on the W., the remains have been obliterated by ploughing and by the passage of modern farm machinery. <3>

SU 019107 Brockington, a deserted Medieval village. <2>

The earthworks are visible on 1950s aerial photographs and on current Lidar imagery and were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project. <1, 7>

<1> Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photography, 22-APR-53, CAP8108/022 (SU0110/001) (Aerial Photograph). SDO15694.

<2> Beresford, M, and Hurst, J G, 1971, Deserted Medieval Villages, 186 (Monograph). SWX1568.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 20 plan (Monograph). SDO129.

'(19) SETTLEMENT REMAINS of Brockington (020108) lie on the N. W. bank of the R. Allen in the extreme E. of the parish. No separate record occurs in the 14th-century Subsidy Rolls or in the 17th-century Hearth Tax Returns and it is impossible to assess the population or date of desertion. The remains indicate that before desertion the settlement grew at some period into a small hamlet (plann opp. p. 113).

The remains include a well-defined hollow-way which extends N.E. from (7) for some 220 yds. and meets a similar hollow-way approaching from the S.E. Flanking thehollow-ways, and bounded by low banks and scarps, are nine or possibly ten rectangular closes, most of them with low rectangular scoops or platforms, the sites of former buidings. On the N.E. of the site, and also on the W. the remains have been obliterated by ploughing and by the passage of modern farm machinery.'

<4> Historic England, Historic England Archive, Object Number: RCH01/091. (Index). SDO14738.

Object Title: RCHME Inventory: Dorset V (East). Scope & Content: Annotated publication proofs for Dorset V, East Dorset, published in 1974. Also includes original surveys, drawings and field notes, and unpublished material. Original survey material has been catalogued.

<5> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1994, Medieval Village Research Group Index, PRN 451 (Index). SDO16386.

<6> DCMS, 2002, Scheduled Monument Notification EH Scheduling amendment, 05-JUL-2002 (Scheduling record). SDO18700.

<7> XX-XXX-2015, Environment Agency DTM Lidar 1m (Aerial Photograph). SDO15442.

<8> Historic England, Historic England Archive, Object Number: 884599 (Index). SDO14738.

Object Title: RCHME: Brockington DMV, Gussage All Saints, Dorset

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 213813 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 12 2022 8:53AM