Monument record MDO3838 - Cross dyke on Fore Top, Fontmell Magna

A cross dyke comprising a single bank and ditch crosses the crest of a spur called Fore Top. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water.

Two cross ridge dykes of probable Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age date, cutting north west/south east across a hogs-back spur in enclosed downland. 'A' Extends from ST 87881815 to ST 88321802, is partly wooded and has suffered considerable mutilation. Physically both dykes remain as described by RCHM <2>. The cross dykes were acquired by the National Trust in 1977 <3.2>. Divorced surveys at 1:2500 on permatrace. <3>

The cross dyke runs in a straight line obliquely across the spur and has a bank 8m wide and up to 1m high with a ditch on its northern side, 5m wide and 0.5m deep. A vehicle track has breached the bank near the centre, adjacent to the wood, and to the west of this the bank has been partly or totally reduced in height in two stretches, 17m and 35m long. It is understood that this was done by a previous owner to create a golf course. Another track has truncated the bank near the western end adjacent to the parish boundary. The earthwork fades out at each end just above the steep slopes.

In 1997 during the relaying of a water pipe through the central gap, part of the ditch fill was exposed. Environmental evidence from the archaeological levels indicated that the ditch was created in cleared woodland, but grassland subsequently predominated and was grazed intensively. The change in land use to a more managed landscape suggests that the cross dyke may have been part of local land allotment and animal containment. <6> <7>

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

ST 87891814 - ST 88271805 Cross Dykes (NR) ST 88191838 - ST 88391822 Cross Dykes (NR)

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 26 (Monograph). SDO99.

'(33) CROSS-DYKE (87901814 - 88281805), in the E of the parish and more than 650 ft above O.D., extends obliquely from WNW to ESE across the crest of Fore Top, a spur which projects SW from the Chalk escafpment. The W end is in Compton Abbas. The dyke is about 480 yds long and runs in a straight line from one shoulder of the spur to the other , separating the top of the spur from the land on the N. It comprises a single bank with a ditch on the N. ; in the best perserved part the bank is 3ft high and 24ft across, and the ditch is 18 ft across and 2 ft deep. A gap at the centre, some 40 yds wide, results form a later trackway and is not an original entrance. (Sumner, Cranborne Chase, 67).'

<3> Barrett, G, Various, Field Investigators Comments GB, F1 GB 18-JAN-78 (Unpublished document). SDO17369.

<3.1> Ordnance Survey, OS/75/371 141-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18363.

<3.2> National Trust, 1977, National Trust Report (Serial). SDO18575.

<4> St Joseph, J K, St Joseph CS 047 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18574.

<5> Royal Air Force, 29-OCT-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1811 1081-82 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18573.

<6> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1998, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1997, 175 (Serial). SDO12420.

<7> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1999, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1998, 898-91 (Serial). SDO96.

<8> Historic England, Scheduled Monument Notification, 24-Sep-99 (Scheduling record). SDO17468.

<9> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 884838 Cross Dykes/measured survey (Index). SDO14738.

Initial Field survey of Cross dyke earthworks on Fontmell Down.Bibliographic References : 1) Monument No.33

<10> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB69/01711 SECTION ACROSS DYKE. IT RUNS OBLIQUELY ACROSS THE SPUR OF FORE TOP (Index). SDO14738.

<11> National Record of the Historic Environment, 205941 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 27 2024 5:11PM