Details

The monument includes the remains of a shrunken medieval village surviving as
a complex of extant earthworks, with prehistoric settlement remains surviving
as buried features, set in a field adjacent to the River Stour. The monument
has been surveyed recently and partially excavated, providing detailed
information on the evolution of the site from the Mesolithic period to the
present day.
The surviving earthworks, which date mainly to the 13th and 14th centuries,
consist of linear banks and ditches, building platforms, and hollows, as well
as spreads of sandstone, mortar, flint and the foundation courses of walls,
all of which represent the settlement and infield areas of the shrunken
village of Sturminster Marshall. However, the earliest occupation of the site
is much earlier. Excavation has shown, for example, that the area of the
monument had been settled in the Neolithic period, and, indeed, had
indications of a Mesolithic presence in the form of small flint tools called
microliths. Excavation also revealed burials which have been interpreted as
belonging to the Late Saxon minster which was thought to have existed at
Sturminster Marshall before the Domesday survey.
Sturminster Marshall was assessed at 30 hides in Domesday Book and, as such,
was one of the largest manors in Dorset. Remains of the medieval settlement
will extend into the area of the modern village but their extent and survival
are not known.
A number of features within the area are excluded from the scheduling; these
are the earth bank of the flood barrier and the matting on which it was
constructed, the post and wire fences and stone walls; the ground beneath all
the exclusions is, however, included.

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

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The village, comprising a small group of houses, gardens, yards, streets,
paddocks, often with a green, a manor and a church, and with a community
primarily devoted to farming, was a significant component of the rural
landscape in most areas of medieval England, much as it is today. Villages
provided some services to the local community as well as acting as the focus
of ecclesiastical, and often manorial, authority within each medieval parish.
Although the sites of many of these villages have been occupied continuously
down to the present day, many have declined considerably in size and are now
occupied by farmsteads or hamlets. This decline may have taken place gradually
throughout the lifetime of the village or more rapidly, particularly during
the 14th and 15th centuries when many other villages were wholly deserted. The
reasons for diminishing size were varied but often reflected declining
economic viability or population fluctuations as a result of widespread
epidemics such as the Black Death. As a consequence of their decline, large
parts of these villages are frequently undisturbed by later occupation and
contain well-preserved archaeological deposits. Over 3000 shrunken medieval
villages are recorded nationally. Because they are a common and long-lived
monument type in most parts of England, they provide important information on
the diversity of medieval settlement patterns and farming economy between the
regions and through time.

The shrunken medieval village earthworks at Sturminster Marshall survive well,
close to St Mary's church. Sturminster Marshall was one of the largest
estates in Dorset in the medieval period, being assessed at 30 hides in the
Domesday survey of 1086, and the Saxon estate is thought to have been of
similar importance. Burials belonging to this period were interpreted by the
excavator as belonging to the Late Saxon minster.
In addition to the medieval and Saxon remains, the site also has evidence for
Mesolithic and Neolithic settlement. Such evidence is unusual in that it is
rarely discovered in valley bottoms, areas which provide conditions for the
survival of waterlogged remains. The Neolithic evidence is associated with a
large ditch which it has been suggested may indicate that the site was
partially enclosed and defended.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
OAU, Sturminster Marshall, Walnut Tree Field. Interim Report.,

Source: Historic England