Monument record MDO1432 - Cross dyke on Askerswell Down, Litton Cheney

Earthworks of a possible Iron Age cross ridge dyke comprising a bank and ditch, running north south across Askerswell Down, and a sunken Medieval trackway. Field investigations in 1955 found the bank to be between 7-8 metres wide and up to 0.6 metres high and the ditch up to 3.5 metres wide and 0.4 metres deep. Excavations recovered Iron Age and medieval pottery and a medieval inhumation from the ditch.

[Mentioned in a general way] <1>

This earthwork is of the IA cross-dyke type: it runs from N-S across a ridge, and is grass covered. Visible on APs
CPE/UK/2431/3151-2. It falls into three particular sections.

From A to B: It starts on the N facing slope as a single scarp, and becomes a bank with a ditch on the E side as it proceeds toward the crest of the ridge. The bank is 7.0m wide and 0.6m high; the ditch 3.5m wide and 0.4m deep.

From B to C: The earthwork has been very mutilated by surface quarrying, a field boundary bank which runs along the centre of the ditch, and at the S end numerous tracks deviate from the present main road and cut through the bank. The 50.0m of ditch which remains in this section has perhaps been widened during construction of the field bank, and averages 5.0m wide and 0.8m deep.

From C to D: The bank is 8.0m wide and 0.5m high, and the ditch 2.5m wide and 1.0m deep. The E side of the ditch is surmounted by a modern field bank. Both bank and ditch fade rapidly on the S hill slope. <4>

The cross-dyke was sectioned at two points and a 20 foot length of the ditch cleared, in 1956. The ditch was both shallow and wide. The secondary ditch silting provided IA and Med pottery. The bank showed two phases of construction. The ditch crossing the dyke near the road proved to be a sunken trackway of probable Medieval date.
Within the main dyke ditch, lay the skeleton of a young woman aged 25-30. There was no sign of a grave. <5>

This earthwork has been ploughed out [between points 'A' & 'C' on 25" cut out on T3] & has been deleted from field
document. <6>

Full report on the excavations. <7>

Earthworks of a possible Iron Age cross ridge dyke comprising a bank and ditch, running north south across Askerwell Down. The line of the cross dyke is visible continuing to the south of the Roman Road, however it appears to have been fossilised by more recent field boundaries. <8-9>

<1> Warne, C, 1872, Ancient Dorset (2nd Edition), 61 (Monograph). SWX1971.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1903 (Map). SWX1540.

[SY 55259185] Dyke [OE]

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 137 (Monograph). SDO97.

'(20) Dyke, crossing the Dorchester-Bridport road 320 yards W. of the cross-roads, consists of a bank running N. and S. with a dtich on the E. side. The bank rises about 2 ft. above the ground to the W. and 3½ ft. above the bottom of the ditch. The work extends for some 340 yards but has several gaps.'

<4> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 03-MAY-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<5> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1957, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1956, 84 (Serial). SDO56.

<6> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Large Scale/Small Scale Map Reviser's comments, SS 6" (A McVie, Reviser, 25/1/57) (Verbal communication). SDO19451.

<7> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1959, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1958, 160-177 (Serial). SDO58.

<8> 20-JUL-1989, NMR OS/89389 067-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11101.

<9> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 3151-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11098.

<10> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/088 RCHME Inventory: Dorset I (West) and Revision (Unpublished document). SDO17367.

<11> National Record of the Historic Environment, 451052 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 25 2023 12:30PM