Monument record MDO6395 - Medieval settlement of East Hemsworth, Witchampton

The remains of East Hemsworth cover about 15 acres and lie in the W of the parish and occupy a gentle N facing slope. This is one of two Hemedeswordes listed in the Domesday Book. Earthworks of possible tofts and hollow ways are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs and on current Environment Agency lidar imagery and were digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM project.

SETTLEMENT REMAINS (970060) of the former village of East Hemsworth lie in the W. of the parish,; they occupy a gentle N.-facing slope, 150 ft. above O.D. The settlement is one of two Hemedeswordes Isaac Taylor drew the estate map the site of the former settlement. There is no subsequent record of population, and in c. 1770 when listed in Domesday, each with a recorded population of four was called Cow Lease. <1>

Earthworks of possible tofts and hollow ways are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs and on current Environment Agency lidar imagery and were digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM project. <7-9>

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 108-9 (Monograph). SDO129.

‘(20) SETTLEMENT REMAINS (970060) of the former village of East Hemsworth lie in the W. of the parish, immediately N. of (18); they occupy a gentle N.-facing slope, 150 ft. above O.D. (Plate 79). The settlement is one of two Hemedeswordes listed in Domesday (V.C.H., Dorset iii, 86, 101), each with a recorded population of four. The other Domesday Hemsworth is represented by (19) West Building, formerly called West or Upper Hemsworth. There is no subsequent record of population, and in c. 1770 when Isaac Taylor drew the estate map (D.C.R.O., 1930: 23, 38) the site of the former settlement was called Cow Lease.
The remains, covering about 15 acres, have been disturbed by quarrying and by a track. Earthworks are seen on both sides of a broad hollow-way, up to 40 ft. wide and 2½ ft. deep, which runs from S.E. to N.W.; its northern part has been obliterated by a track in present use. On the E. of the hollow-way, seven or eight irregularly shaped closes are bounded by low banks and scarps. Disturbed areas indicate former buildings. The most northerly close contains a rectangular sunken area (75 ft. by 40 ft.) orientated N.-S., with a well-preserved internal division; almost certainly this is the site of a former house. To the E. of the closes, narrow plots bounded by scarps up to 3 ft. high appear to have been caused by ploughing; on the E. they are cut by a hedge. Fragmentary earthworks on the W. of the hollow-way are perhaps the remains of other closes similar to those described.’

<2> Good, R, 1979, Lost Villages of Dorset, 20-21 (Monograph). SWX1569.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1994, Medieval Village Research Group Index, PRN 503 (Index). SDO16386.

<4> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 884233 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME: East Hemsworth DMV, Witchampton, Dorset. Includes contours.

<5> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/091 RCHME Inventory: Dorset V (East) (Unpublished document). SDO18032.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 209294 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<7> Environment Agency, 16-NOV-2021, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO18034.

<8> National Monuments Record, 13-OCT-1999, NMR 18458/11 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19322.

<9> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 FP 1122 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19321.

Record last edited

Jan 30 2023 4:25PM