Monument record MDO3839 - 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.

The cross dyke has a bank, 8m wide and up to 1.2m high, curving more towards the north at its western end, with a ditch, 5m wide and up to 1m deep, to the north east of it and another bank beyond, 6m wide and 0.5m high. The earthworks fade out at each end on the steeper slopes. There are two gaps in the earthwork, one at the centre and the other where the parish boundary crosses it, neither of which are original.

'B' A cross dyke running from ST 88191839 to ST 88391822. It is 300 yards long and comprises a bank with a ditch on the north east and a counterscarp bank beyond. Where well preserved, the bank is 21 feet across and 3 1/2 feet high, the ditch 20 feet across and 3 1/2 feet deep, and the counterscarp bank 15 feet across and up to 2 feet high. Gaps are secondary and the centre one was made by a later trackway. <3-4>

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. 'B' Extends from ST 88171838 to ST 88401820. It is well preserved and clearly defined on OS air photographs. Physically both dykes remain as described by RCHM <2> . The cross dykes were acquired by the National Trust in 1977. Divorced surveys at 1:2500 on permatrace. <5>

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

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

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.

'(34) CROSS-DYKE (88191839-88391822), on the crest of Fore Top, lies some 250 yds NE of (33) and at the same altitude ; the NW half is in Compton Abbas. The dyke (Plate 35) is 300 yds long and runs from shoulder to shoulder of the spur, generally from NW to SE, but changing direction to ESE at a point 50 yds SE of the centre. It faces NE up the spur and comprises a bank with a ditch on the NW and a counterscarp bank beyond. Where well preservedthe bank is 21 ft across and 3.5 ft high, the ditch is 15 ft across and up to 2 ft high. Gaps are obviously secondary. That in the centre having been cut by a later trackway. (Sumner, Cranborne Chase, 67).'

<3> St Joseph, J K, St Joseph CS 047 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18574.

<4> Royal Air Force, 29-OCT-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1811 1081-82 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18573.

<5> Barrett, G, Various, Field Investigators Comments GB, F1 GB 18-JAN-78 (Unpublished document). SDO17369.

<5.1> Ordnance Survey, OS/75/371 141-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18363.

<5.2> National Trust, 1977, National Trust Report (Serial). SDO18575.

<6> Historic England, Scheduled Monument Notification, 24-Sep-99 (Scheduling record). SDO17468.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 205941 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 27 2024 5:11PM