Monument record MDO3413 - Linear dyke on Black Down, Winterbourne Steepleton

Fragments of a linear dyke on Black Down. Recorded by RCHM and suggested to be Late Bronze Age in date. Also visible as an earthwork and cropmarks on aerial photographs.

Fragments of a linear dyke on Black Down, running E-W for 530 yards. To the west it runs into Littlebredy parish where a small enclosure is attached to it. West of the enclosure it extends downhill along the north-facing slope of a re-entrant valley,first as a ditch with bank on the south side, then as a soil mark, then as a depression, 15 feet wide, and finally as a narrow sloping terrace which fades into the hillside below a `Celtic' field scarp. East of the enclosure, after a 14 yard gap, perhaps due to quarying, the dyke continues uphill, first as a depression, then east of the parish boundary, as a bank with a ditch on the north side. Small-scale excavation on the dyke where it forms part of the enclosure showed that the bank was 12 feet across and only 1 foot high, while the ditch was 9 feet across at the top, 2 feet across at the bottom, and 3 feet deep. A few coarse undecorated sherds from the ditch filling might indicate a date in the Late Bronze Age. <1>

The eastern end is an area of heathland recently planted with conifers. The central part is regularly ploughed and hence has been destroyed. The western end is in permanent pasture and within the area of Scheduled monument 761. <2>

A section of cross-dyke 14m long survives as an earthwork 6m wide and about 0.6m high. This represents the eastern part of the dyke. It is noticeable that the three sections recorded by the RCHME each had a different character, and may represent three different features rather than a continuous dyke. To the west the dyke runs east away from the valley slope, while the adjacent field system extends to the west over the sides of the valley.

The distrbance and reduction of the linear boundary (to the east of the field system) has obscured the inter-relationship with adjacent monuments, and reduced the potential and quality of the surviving archaeological deposits. For these raons the site is not considered to be of merit for scheduling. <4>

It is also visible as an earthwork and cropmarks on aerial photographs <5-6> and was digitally plotted during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project. An irregular subsquare enclosure (MDO1367) lies adjacent to the northern side of the central linear bank fragment, possibly associated with it or an earlier or later addtion.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 519 (Monograph). SDO150.

<2> Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1982, Wessex Archaeology (Serial). SDO20085.

<3> Papworth, M, 1983, The South Dorset Ridgeway Project: condition and management survey, SDR 697 (Index). SDO12304.

Eastern end is an area of heathland recently planted with conifers. The central portion is regularly ploughed and hence has been destroyed. The western end is in permanent pasture. W end within scheduled area 761. 7/-/E

<4> English Heritage, English Heritage Alternative Action Report, MPPA, 04-Feb-1999 (Scheduling record). SDO18279.

<5> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 3097-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11790.

<6> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1824 3299-3300 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11849.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1408714 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 25 2023 10:43AM