Monument record 851 - Possible former medieval/post-medieval woodland

Cropmarks of possible linear ditches and enclosures. This area was still forested in the early 19th century (part of Whittlewood Forest) and the linear ditches were interpreted as former woodbanks during the Northants NMP. A curvilinear ditched enclosure, a subrectangular ditched enclosure and linear ditches of uncertain date and function are visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as earthworks and were mapped as part of Historic England’s North Buckinghamshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project.

{3-9} A curvilinear ditched enclosure, a subrectangular ditched enclosure and linear ditches of uncertain date and function are visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as earthworks and were mapped as part of Historic England’s North Buckinghamshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project. Located in fields west of Linshire Farm, north of Shrine’s Wood and centred at SP 69552 42017, aerial photographs taken in 1946 and 1947 show blurry, poorly-defined cropmarks that suggest a subrectangular ditched enclosure centred at SP 69749 41910, a ditch up to 7 metres wide enclosing an internal about 25 metres N-S and 31.5 metres W-E at its widest. This enclosure is contained on the west and east sides by 2 sinuous ditches up to 9 metres wide and aligned roughly SSW-NNE, though whether these are contemporary with the enclosure is unclear. Centred about 280 metres NW at SP 69553 42076, a curvilinear ditch up to 8 metres wide extends in an asymmetrical arc about 334 metres forming an enclosure, though no western side is visible on the aerial photographs available to the project. The fields in which these features are located were still woodland on the 1814 Ordnance Surveyor Drawing, part of the former Whittlewood medieval hunting forest. The 1st edition OS map shows that some of these woodlands have been felled by 1881, creating agricultural fields, within which the cropmarks are visible. The sinuous connected ditches may represent former woodland boundaries. Scattered throughout these features are the probable cropmark remains of medieval charcoal burning platforms, visible as very dark discrete spreads of various sizes, at least one of which appears to overlie a linear ditch, suggesting phased activity. Whilst recent remote sensing data shows no evidence of earthworks surviving, aerial photographs taken in 2015 show some of these cropmarks remain visible.

<1> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN104822.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1811-9, First Edition Ordnance Survey Surveyors Drawings, Sheet 229 (Map). SNN104902.

<3> Ordnance Survey Map (Scale/date), 1:2,500/1885 (Map). SNN112944.

<4> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, RAF-3G-TUD-UK-86 RV 6047 26-MAR-1946 (Photographs). SNN104890.

<5> Vertical Aerial Photograph, OS-68291 V 130 22-AUG-1968 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112695.

<6> Vertical Aerial Photograph, OS-93361 V 15 13-JUL-1993 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112695.

<7> Vertical Aerial Photograph, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery 14-SEP-2019 SP6942 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112695.

<8> Vertical Aerial Photograph, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery 03-JUL-2015 SP6942 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112695.

<9> Environment Agency, LIDAR Composite DTM - 1m, LIDAR SP64SE dated 2019 SP6942 (Digital Plots). SNN111710.

Record last edited

Oct 23 2024 10:56AM