— by Rebecca Bennett — 2025 saw the official end of the Chase and Chalke project but nevertheless it was another active year for the volunteer group that formed around the lidar…
Beyond the Map
During the course of the project volunteers have worked together and independently on a range of topics. Here we showcase some of their work delving into the history of the incredible Cranborne Chase landscape and reflections on the project itself.
Preliminary geoarchaeology of the Netton Clump depressions
— report by Michael J Allen — In August 2024 the Chase Chalke volunteers joined Mike Allen to undertake two days of hand augering to define the nature, character and potentially depth…
Curious Cursus: looking at the evidence with a new ‘light’
— by Rebecca Bennett — In August I was asked to give a talk at the fabulous Curious Cursus event, which sadly due to family commitments I couldn’t attend in person. My…
How many wheelbarrow loads would it take to empty a typical chalk pit?
— by Steve G — That is a good question and one that is relatively easy to answer if you have access to LIDAR data within a reasonably-featured GIS (Geographic Information System)…
Obsessed with LiDAR?
— by Steve G — A word of warning here. Be very careful getting too involved with citizen science projects that involve LiDAR, like for example the excellent “Champions of the Past”…
Naishes Farm – Revealing History Ancient and Modern
— by John Mullin — LiDAR provides us with a new way of seeing history on the ground, often in areas of woodland or scrub where traditional methods of surveying would have…
Chalk pits mapping project
— by Rebecca Bennett — As part of the lidar mapping project and field visits, a very large number of regularly spaced pits have been noticed across the Chase & Chalke project…
Visiting the Chalk Pits at Netton Clump
— by Yvonne Crossley — I first became interested in LiDAR maps of the Burcombe landscape when I found iron pyrites nodules on a walk around the top of the Punchbowl near…
Similar but different – LiDAR in Cranborne Chase and the Chilterns
— by Vivienne Blandford — This is a very broad-brush comment about a landscape led approach which compares the type of archaeological features that have been mapped/visualised by LiDAR on what are…
some thoughts on chalk pit patterns
— by Vivienne Blandford & Rebecca Bennett — When considering the nature of the pits we have identified in the LiDAR of the Chase it is useful to compare their pattern and…