Four lynchets 610m west of Kingston Dairy

Reasons for Designation

Lynchets provide distinctive traces of medieval and earlier agricultural activities in downland areas, indicating the level of intensity of land use and farming practices through time. They are formed as a result of ploughing on steep valley sides, often adjacent to extensive areas of ridge and furrow on flat land. The lynchets to the west of Kingston Dairy represent a well preserved set of medieval fields illustrating the intensity of land use at this time. They are well documented, appearing on a mid-18th century map, and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the fields and their surrounding landscape.

Details

The monument comprises four lynchets or cultivation terraces forming part of a medieval field system set on the steep north facing slope of Court Hill, a chalk promontory overlooking the Wylye Valley. The lynchets are 11m wide consisting of a scarp or riser up to 1.5m high and a flat platform or tread. They are orientated approximately east to west along the slope. The uppermost lynchet is 366m long. To the west it forms the northern boundary of a small plantation, while to the east it is topped by the fenceline of a field to the south. The second lynchet below this is 280m long. To the west it ends at the line of a hollow way which runs up the slope at an angle for a length of 130m. This is thought to be the track from which the fields were reached. The third lynchet which is 200m long, also abutts the hollow way to the west and joins the second lynchet to the east. The fourth and lowest lynchet is 173m long and almost at the bottom of the slope. The fields are shown as individual plots on a 1749 map of the estate of the Viscount of Weymouth. All fenceposts and cattle troughs are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

31680

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.