Monument record MDO3519 - Dyke in Mudoak Wood, Ashmore

A prehistoric dyke, in excess of eight hundred metres long and aligned south west to north east. The monument traverses a low spur and dry valley and, at its northern end, crosses the county boundary into Wiltshire. Its earthworks are best preserved in Mudoak Wood, where they survive as a shallow bank and ditch. Between Mudoak Wood and the Wiltshire county boundary the dyke has been almost levelled by ploughing, but it clearly predates the agger of a Roman road which crosses it.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 3 (Monograph). SDO99.

'(16) DYKE (91931675), in Mudoak Wood, extends from S.W. to N.E. for some 900 yds. across a low spur and a dry valley, at altitudes between 500 ft. and 600 ft. above sea level; at its N.E. end it crosses the boundary with Wiltshire. This earthwork is best preserved for a distance of about 300 yds. in Mudoak Wood, where the bank is 20ft. across and 2 ft. high and the ditch, lying along the N.W. side of the bank, is 25 ft. across and 2 ft deep. A so-called 'barrow' on the line of the dyke at 92131698 is almost certainly part of the bank. Between Mudoak Wood and the country boundary the dyke has almost been destroyed by ploughing, but it is clearly earlier than the agger of the Roman road, which crosses it. At the S.W. end the earthwork has been disturbed by track.'

Record last edited

Sep 12 2024 1:13PM