New land for us in what has proven to be a excellent area for us in the past. The fields will be grazed pasture, exact fields to be confirmed the day before but will be between Henly and Duntish. This event will take place on 30/04/23. Everyone sets off at 9.30am, please make sure you are here for 9am. To register as going to this event please visit our Facebook groups event section if possible. Digs are pay on the day; if you do not have Facebook, directions will be posted on this website the day before the dig.

Brief history of the area.

Photograph of Duntish Court ruins in Buckland Newton, Dorset [c.1930s-1980s] John Piper 1903-1992 Presented by John Piper 1987 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/archive/TGA-8728-1-10-17-1

Duntish, Dorset

Historical Description

Duntish, a tithing in Buckland-Newton parish, Dorsetshire, 3½ miles NE of Cerne-Abbas. A Roman camp of 10 acres is here, and has yielded Roman coins and arms.

he name ‘Buckland’ derives from bōc-land, Old English for ‘charter land’ or land with special privileges created by royal diploma, while ‘Newton’ is a more recent addition taken from Sturminster Newton, a nearby town.^[6]

Evidence for prehistoric settlement comes from Bronze Age barrows at Gales Hill and the Iron Age hill fort of Dungeon Hill.^[7]

The parish originally had five settlements, each with their own open field system: Buckland Newton, Brockhampton, Duntish, Henley (perhaps previously known as Knoll) and Minterne Parva, the last now part of Minterne Magna parish.^[3] Farms based on small mediaeval enclosures include Chaston Farm, Revels Farm, and possibly Bookham.^[3]