Monument record MDO6045 - Prehistoric ditch, Shapwick

A ditch with a shallow rounded profile, interpreted as a field boundary ditch. A section was cut through this ditch in 1989 revealing it to have a flat bottom. A piece of Bronze Age pottery was found in the filling of the ditch. It is thought likely to be part of an early Bronze Age field system. The boundary is visible on aerial photographs and lidar imagery and was digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AI&M Project.

A section cut through this ditch by Martin Papworth of the National Trust in 1989 showed it to be around 2 metres wide and 0.18 metres deep. The fillings of the ditch contained fragments of prehistoric pottery and lay below deposits containing Romano-British pottery. <1>
The boundary is visible on aerial photographs (3) and was digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AI&M Project. It forms part of a longer feature described in MDO43841.

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1990, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1989, 105-106 (Serial). SDO89.

<2> Papworth, M, 1994, Shapwick Parish, Kingston Lacy Estate, Wessex Region, 97 (Unpublished document). SDO14228.

A linear ditch runs parallel with 112,608 which is aligned north to south and lies 80m to the east f 112,775. It is traceable for 400m on NT Film 401 and merges with 112,009 on the south side of the Blandford road. This ditch was sectioned as part of the beech avenue excavations at ST95350314 (Papworth 1992, 66). The ditch measured 0.7m wide, 0.3m deep with a flat bottom 0.2m wide and contained a small piece of Bronze Age pottery. It is probable that this is part of an Early Bronze Age field system (see 112,589) cut by a large ‘V’ shaped ditch 112,009 in the Middle Bronze Age.

<3> J R Boyden, 01-APR-1966, JRB 10/36 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18113.

Record last edited

Jul 24 2022 9:54AM