Monument record MDO1691 - Cross dyke on Bowden's Hill, Lyscombe, Melcombe Horsey

A linear earthwork crossing the ridge of the hill, and consisting of a bank with a ditch along the northern side. One of several dykes around Lyscombe Bottom.

ST 74000218 to ST 74100222. Clearly visible on OS air photographs <4.1> the dyke is cut 32.0m from its west end by a modern gap but is otherwise as described by RCHM <2>. Surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. <4>

Dyke 15. The 1957 excavations were carried out prior to the bank being levelled before ploughing. Two sections were made (see illustration). <5>

The earthwork remains of a Cross Dyke date which is visible on aerial photographs taken in 2015 as part of the Historic England Reconnaissance Recording programme. The ditch and bank can be seen extending c. 185m across the ridge, bisected by a band of trees. <6>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1962 (Map). SWX1540.

(ST 74000218 - ST 74120223) Cross Dyke (NR)

<2> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 174-175 (Monograph). SDO136.

'(15) Dyke (74000218–74120223), lies across the ridge of Bowden's Hill, 300 yds. S. of and roughly parallel with (14). The dyke is 140 yds. long and has its ditch on the N. or uphill side. The bank is 24 ft. across, 3½ ft. high on the S., and 6½ ft. above the ditch bottom; the ditch is 27 ft. across. On the W. the dyke ends at the shoulder of the slope, whence a shallow ditch of unknown date, 4 ft. across, continues in the same line towards Lyscombe Bottom; on the E. it ends at dyke (16), probably cutting its ditch. Some 40 yds. from the E. end is a slight but marked change of direction northwards. The dyke cuts a lynchet over 6 ft. high running N.—S., part of destroyed 'Celtic' fields. The embanked track from the settlement (II) points as if to skirt the W. end of the dyke, but old disturbance precludes confirmation.
Excavations in 1957 showed that the bank stands 4 ft. high above the old ground surface and that the ditch is funnel-shaped in cross-section and nearly 8 ft. deep; coarse sherds of the Late Bronze or Early Iron Age were found in the secondary silting. At the W. end the ditch ended abruptly and stakeholes across the end of the bank may have been for revetment (Dorset Procs. LXXIX (1957), 115).'

<3> Royal Air Force, 11-APR-47, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 4363-4 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17544.

<4> Barrett, G, Various, Field Investigators Comments GB, F1 GB 04-DEC-78 (Unpublished document). SDO17369.

<4.1> Ordnance Survey, OS 74/058/122-23 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17545.

<5> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1980, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1978, 36-42 (Serial). SDO78.

<6> Historic England, 01-OCT-2015, HEA 29590_004 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17583.

<7> Wacher, J S, 1958, Interim Recport on Excavations at Bowden's Hill, Melcombe Horsey. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 79, 115 (Article in serial). SDO20762.

‘Excavations took place on Bowden’s Hill, Lyscombe, Dorse, for a period of three weeks in July 1957, on behalf of the Ministry of Works. The main concern was to section the cross dyke which runs east-west across the hill at approximately the 750 ft. mark, ST 741022.
The main section, 8 ft. wide, across the bank and ditch, was extended to cut the lynchet which ran parallel to, and to the north of the ditch. The bank survived to a height of about 4 ft. above the original surface. Beneath it were unidentifiable fragments of pottery, scraps of bone and charcoal. There did not appear to be more than one phase of construction. Two stake holes were found, one at the front of the bank, the other at the rear. It seems unlikely, however, that this would have been enough to act as revetting, and they may have been marking-out posts. The ditch was nearly 8 ft. deep and was funnel-shaped. The secondary silting produced a quantity of sherds, seemingly of Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age character.
Excavations were also carried out at the west end of the dyke. Here the ditch was found to have quite an abrupt butt-end. The bank had, at this point, almost completely weathered away, but at the end a line of stake-holes presumably marked the point where revetting was put up to stop the material from falling down the hill (here at least a 1 in 2 slope).’

<8> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 882142 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME, Plush Hill, Lyscombe Bottom, Dorset: Profiles of dykes 15 (north side),14 (north side),17 (north side) Melcombe Horsey and 47 (north side) Piddletrenthide. Within Celtic Field Group (44).Bibliographic References : 1) Pt 2, Dyke 47.2) Celtic Field Gp (44).Pt 23) Pt 2, Dykes 15, 14, 17.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 202068 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<10> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1148541 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jul 19 2024 3:23PM