A Sherborne Miscellany
Bits and bobs
A few disparate things to comment on.
Otters and foxes - are they incompatible? In the last couple of weeks I have had reports of a family of otters (one adult and 2 kits) transiting the Broadwater and one night a few days ago I heard at about 2 in the morning squeaks and chirps an whistles that can only have been otters from my bedroom window alongside the Brook. Otters on the Sherborne Brook are quite common - at least their “spraint” is - full of crayfish shells. Oddly though, in the last few days there has been no sign. This evening I saw two young foxes patrolling the woodland at the top end of the Broadwater. One a “traditional” russet red, the other unusually dark - not black, but closer to black than red. I’ve never seen a fox like it. The tall poplar willows felled here last year provide, perhaps, a welcome dense habitat for both species. But I wonder if one species precludes the other. No photos, yet…. Watch this space.
I’d like to express a “well done” to the NT team. There has been a lot of planting of hundreds, probably thousands, of trees to the East of Sherborne. A combination of perhaps poor installation by the contractor, wind, stock and wildlife had caused a good proportion of the tree protectors to fall over. It looked quite a state and a number of you expressed concern. I’m pleased to say that they NT responded to the situation with alacrity and within a couple of days the situation has been corrected. Well done, NT.
A curious Roman observation from “crop marks”. Those long term subscribers may recall that last year we reported an interesting “crop mark” to the East of the village. This area is known to have been a site where Roman remains have been found before and there is an Heritage Environment Record for the area at this link. Some of the Brook Group looking at aerial photos last year noticed this remarkable rectangular shape, perhaps a villa, close by - the first time it had been noticed. Nothing quite so specific is visible on LIDAR. Here’s the general area then a zoom in:
Anyways, that was last year. This week I was doing some research into Roman sites in general, and one archaeologist noted that a lot of Roman sites are associated with areas with the name “Chessels”. Apparently this is an Anglo Saxon word associated with stones used for building. I recalled that there is a Chessels Wood, about a mile North of the site above, on the far bank of the Windrush alongside the path to Great Rissington. That path too has a Heritage Environment Record (HER) for a Roman site (here at this link) and Brian Agg has told me he has seen tiles and stuff there. Here’s the site on a OS map which names the wood running along the bank as “Chessels wood”.
So I thought back to that aerial photo from last year and dig out the same set of images and went hunting, and this is what I think I can see just to the left and above the point of the red arrow above. Can you see it, faintly, or is it my imagination ? I think there’s a faint rectangle or two squares there. LIDAR shows nothing. Next time you take the path to Great Rissington, watch where you step! This surely is the site of the Roman villa. Isn’t there a huge amount of history in our locale? Such a special place.
Finally a notice I’m pleased to put out. Richard Boothby, a very accomplished musician who lives in Sherborne is giving a recital in Windrush in 10 days time, details below:
