More information : (SU 01980982 to SU 02250983) Earthwork (NAT) (1)
"On approaching this spot (Knowlton) from Horton Inn, and near the
Farm House called New Barn, the first object to which attention
should be directed, is a strong well formed vallum on the west side
of the turnpike road, running at right angles with it for the
distance of three hundred and twelve paces in a direct line from east
to south west to the meadows bordering the river Allen." (2)
This appears to be a disused green road leading from the modern road
on the east to marshland on the west. It is elevated on the north
or downhill side to a maximum of 1.8 metres, and on the north side
has carried a slight field bank, traces of which remain to the north
of the hedge and field bank shown on OS 6" 1902. (3)
A broad hollow-way, probably Medieval or later, runs west from around
SU 02400987 to the flood plain of the River Allen. Eastwards its line
is continued by two parallel ditches (see SU 00 NW 29). (4)
It is postulated that this lane was once known as the `Muledich' or Milditch, taking its name from Matterley Mill which once lay at its Eastern end, and that the `ditch' formed part of the Southern Outbounds of Cranborne Chase. It is further suggested that the earthwork breasting the North side is `a part of the Knowlton complex' (See SU 01 SW 44). (5)
The site has been visited by MPPA, but not recommended for scheduling on the grounds that it is little understood, possibly incomplete (it may be one of a pair of linear features), and is of uncertain date. Ground photo with archive report. (6)
SU 0176 0972 - SU 0240 0986 - SU 0308 0931. The green road or trackway described by authorities 1-6 is visible, partly as an earthwork but mainly as a cropmark, on aerial photographs, and has been mapped by EH's Knowlton Circles Project. It is 1580.5m long, extending from Bagman's Copse in the east towards the River Allen in the west with a slight change of alignment immediately to the south of Knowlton South henge. The eastern half of the trackway was originally recorded as a separate feature (SU 00 NW 29), but aerial photographic evidence indicates a single feature whose eastern ditches cross the modern road to continue alongside the western hollow way. (7-12)
The medieval date suggested by authority 4-5 appears to be based on the identification of this feature as part of the bounds of Cranborne Chase. However, its use as a landmark in defining the Chase may indicate an earlier date, as Medieval boundaries were sometimes laid out along Prehistoric earthworks. The presence of a field system just to the south (SU 00 NW 95), and additional linear features on a similar alignment to north (SU 00 NW 105, SU 00 NW 106) and south (SU 00 NW 101), suggests that the trackway could have Prehistoric or Roman origins. (13) |