Monument record MDO762 - Medieval settlement remains, part of the hamlet of Burton, Charminster

The settlement is probably listed as one of the Cernes in Domesday Book. There are no known documents giving population figures and the place was deserted by 1772 (Map of Charlton and Lower Burton Farms by B Pryce, 1772, DCRO). The remains, covering some 15 acres, are now mostly destroyed and only a few indeterminate scarps and banks remain; before 1962 they consisted of a complex series of hollow-ways, 30ft to 50ft wide, and 2ft to 4ft deep, associated with closes and platforms. Another hollow-way 200 yds long and 40ft wide runs W from the settlement towards Wolfeton.

Remains of probable closes and hollow-ways associated with the deserted or shrunken hamlet of Burton are clearly defined at SY 684918 on air photographs). <2>

Vestigial settlement remains as described by RCHM <1> but with the hollow-way now also destroyed. <3>

Extensive remains of a deserted medieval village and field system, visible as earthworks and cropmarks on aerial photographs. The plough-levelled remains include a double-banked trackway flanked to either side by enclosures and probable house platforms plus an associated banked field system. <4-5>

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 1, 72 (Monograph). SDO146.

'(27) Settlement remains (686919), part of the hamlet of Burton, lie N.E. of Lower Burton Farm. The settlement is probably listed as one of the Cernes in Domesday Book. There are no known documents giving population figures and the place was deserted by 1772 (Map of Charlton and Lower Burton Farms by B. Pryce, 1772, D.C.R.O). The remains, covering some 15 acres, are now mostly destroyed and only a few indeterminate scarps and banks remain; before 1962 they consisted of a complex series of hollow-ways, 30 ft. to 50 ft. wide and 2 ft. to 4 ft. deep, associated with closes and platforms. Another hollow-way 200 yds. Long and 40 ft. wide runs W. from the settlement towards Wolfeton (26).'

<2> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 2085-86 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20259.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1994, Medieval Village Research Group Index, PRN 478 (Index). SDO16386.

<3> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F1 JGB 01-OCT-80 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

'Vestigial settlement remains as described by R.C.H.M., but with the hollow-way now also destroyed.'

<4> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 3130-1 (Aerial Photograph). SDO10878.

<5> 22-MAY-1969, NMR OS/69154 028-9 (Aerial Photograph). SDO10881.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 453484 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 8 2023 1:48PM