Monument record MDO6418 - Old Churchyard at Knowlton, Woodlands

An enclosure known as 'Old Churchyard' situated immediately south of Church Henge. The monument has been much reduced by ploughing. It appears to be roughly square in shape, measuring around 55 metres across, and comprising a bank with external ditch, possibly with an original entrance at the southern corner. The features are visible as cropmarks on 1995 aerial photographs and as earthworks on 2015 Lidar imagery. The site is part of the cluster of monuments at Knowlton (SU 01 SW 44). Geophysical survey in 1995 by Bournemouth University confirmed the sites extent. An interim report states that there is an entrance in the west side, although the accompanying site plan appears to show one on the north-east, directly facing the northern henge (SU 01 SW 103). No excavation has taken place at the site, but it is generally regarded as being broadly contemporary with the three henges. It has been mapped by English Heritage's Knowlton Circles Project and digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

(SU 02241037) Enclosure known as `Old Churchyard' situated south west of the North Circle. It is a rounded square in plan, 190ft wide, orientated north west- south east. It is bounded by a low bank and an external ditch with indications of an entrance in the south corner. Almost completely destroyed by ploughing. <2>

The 'Old Churchyard'. Enclosure of uncertain origin, measuring about 60 metres in diameter and defined by banks 20 metres wide and 0.5 metres high. Scheduling amended. <8>

The enclosure is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs and has been mapped by EH's Knowlton Circles Project. <1, 4-5>

An enclosure known as 'Old Churchyard' situated immediately south of Church Henge. The monument has been much reduced by ploughing. It appears to be roughly square in shape, measuring around 55 metres across, and comprising a bank with external ditch, possibly with an original entrance at the southern corner.

The features are visible as cropmarks on 1995 aerial photographs and as earthworks on current Lidar imagery <6-7, 10>. The sub-rectangular bank is clearly visible on current Lidar imagery <10> and appears to contain a broadly central sub-circular 21m by 27m hollow. The external ditch, up to 9m wide is clearly visible as a cropmark on 1990s aerial photographs <6-7>.

The features were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

<1> National Monuments Record, 26-JUN-1970, NMR SU 0210/7 (NMR 290/108) (Aerial Photograph). SDO19599.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 114-5 (Monograph). SDO129.

'Monuments (19-22), Knowlton Circles.
These consist of four enclosures, three of normal henge form, which represent the remains of a ritual or ceremonial centre of the late Neolithic period (Plate 80). All but Monument (20) have been severely damaged by cultivation. Their importance as such a centre is emphasised by the concentration of round barrows in the vicinity (Antiquity, XIII (1939), 153-4: R. J. C. Atkinson and others, Excavations at Dorchester, Oxon., Vol. i(1951), 95, 102). … (22) Enclosure (02241037), known as 'Old Churchyard', lies immediately S.W. of (21), but has been almost completely flattened by ploughing. In plan it is a rounded square, about 190 ft. across overall and orientated N.W.-S.E.; it is bounded by a low bank and an external ditch. There are indications of an original entrance in the S. corner.'

<3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1996, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1995, 131-2 (Serial). SDO95.

Burrow, S and J Gale. Survey and Excavation at Knowlton Rings, Woodland Parish, Dorset 1993-5

<4> National Monuments Record, 13-JUL-1995, NMR SU 0210/78 NMR 15314/15 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18723.

<5> National Monuments Record, 13-JUL-1995, NMR SU 0210/65-7 (NMR 15326/05-7) (Aerial Photograph). SDO19586.

<6> National Monuments Record, 13-JUL-1995, NMR15326/006 (SU0210/066) (Aerial Photograph). SDO15701.

<7> National Monuments Record, 13-JUL-1995, NMR15314/009 (SU0210/072) (Aerial Photograph). SDO15702.

<8> DCMS, 2002, Scheduled Monument Notification EH Scheduling amendment, 05-JUL-2002 (Scheduling record). SDO18700.

<9> Historic England, Historic England Archive, AF1339047 (Index). SDO14738.

Object Title: EH: Knowlton Circles, Dorset

<10> XX-XXX-2015, Environment Agency DTM Lidar 1m (Aerial Photograph). SDO15442.

<11> National Record of the Historic Environment, 621834 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 12 2024 10:46AM