Monument record MDO1944 - Cross dyke on Lyscombe Hill, Piddletrenthide

A linear earthwork crossing the ridge of the hill, and consisting of bank with a ditch on the uphill side. The line of the earthwork is crossed by a causeway which may be original. Visible on aerial photographs taken in 2015 as part of the Historic England Reconnaissance Recording programme.

Cross-dyke, 250 yds. NE of the foregoing and parallel to it (73120271-73240257), also has its ditch on the uphill side; its length is about 180 yds. The bank is 20 ft across and 2+ ft high, the ditch is 25 ft wide and 4 ft deep; recent ploughing has given the effect of a counterscarp bank on the N side. A gap with a causeway across the line of the ditch, 20 yds, from the SE end, may be original. A modern track cuts the dyke near the NW end.' This is one of a group of dykes of non-defensive character which appear to be associated with the surrounding Iron Age/Romano-British field system. <2-4>

(ST 73090270 to ST 73220257 A cross-ridge dyke running transversly some 160.0m across a steep sided northeast to southwest ridge. Under pasture, the earthwork consists of a bank to the southwest 9.0m wide, and 0.7m high, with a ditch wide 1.0m deep to the north. An apparent counterscarp bank on the north side of the ditch is probably the result of recent ploughing. A gap and causeway 26.0 m from the southeast end could be original, but another cut 50.0m from the northwest is modern. ) <5>

A 30.0 m extension at the northwest end of the dyke is on a changed alignment. The bank is of slighter proportions and appears to represent a boundary feature of subsequent date. Surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. <5>

The earthwork traces of a later prehistoric Cross dyke visible on aerial photographs taken in 2015 as part of the Historic England Reconnaissance Recording programme. The entire earthwork can be traced for over 240m aligned NW-SE across the ridge, beyond the extent of the Scheduled area. <6>

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

(ST 73150266 - ST 73220258) Cross Dyke

<2> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 220-1 (Monograph). SDO136.

(47) Cross-dyke, 250 yds. N.E. of the foregoing and parallel to it (73120271–73240257), also has its ditch on the uphill side; its length is about 180 yds. The bank is 20 ft. across and 2½ ft. high, the ditch is 25 ft. wide and 4 ft. deep; recent ploughing has given the effect of a counterscarp bank on the N. side. A gap with a causeway across the line of the ditch, 20 yds. from the S.E. end, may be original. A modern track cuts the dyke near the N.W. end.

<3> Royal Air Force, 11-APR-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1975 1037-38 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17541.

<4> National Monuments Record, 10-JAN-2007, NMR ST 7301/ 12 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17542.

<5> Barrett, G, Various, Field Investigators Comments GB, F1 GB 07-NOV-78 (Unpublished document). SDO17369.

<6> Historic England, 01-OCT-2015, HEA 29595_042 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17543.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 202059 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 21 2022 10:01AM