MEM23344 - 19th Century drainage ditches near Pinkery Farm (Monument)

Five drainage ditches were visible as silted up earthworks during field investigation in 2013. These were cut through the drainage ditch (MEM23337) and probably date from the 1860s or the late 19th Century.

This feature belongs to a collection of earthworks which were previously interpreted as a prehistoric field system and associated burial mound (see MSO10133). These have been analysed and reinterpreted as a complex of drainage channels. To ensure the record is clear, child records have been created for each feature and linked to the parent record for the whole complex (MSO10133) where full details of the progression of interpretation can be seen. [1] Field investigation in 2013 noted five silted up drainage ditches which cut through the drainage ditch (MEM23337). These were dug to drain a very wet area between the ditches MEM23336 and MEM23337. The easternmost ditch runs into the extensive drainage system at the head of Short Combe (MMO2144). These ditches are later than the long southeast-northwest running ditches MEM23336 to MEM23340 and probably date from the 1860s when Pinkery Farm was let to Richard Ridd or from the late 19th Century when the area was managed as part of the Pinkery Herding. [2]