Monument record MDO40185 - Ring ditch and associated timber circle and avenue, Ogden Down, Gussage St Michael

A ring ditch at Ogden Down, identified on aerial photograph. It is part of a small cluster of monuments located a short distance north of the Dorset Cursus (Linear 41), not far from its southwest terminal. Excavation of the ring ditch, circa 12 metres in diameter, showed it to have been surrounded by a double post circle The inner circle features larger posts than the outer. The inner circle, comprising 18 postholes, has a diameter of 12.5 metres, while the outer circle, containing 34 postholes, has a diameter of 15 metres. A double row of postholes representing a post-lined avenue runs due south from the timber circles for a distance of circa 65 metres until meeting a smaller ring ditch MDO45514.

ST 97081293. Additional barrow, seen as a soil mark by Mr M Green. Diameter 12m. <1-2>

A ring ditch at Ogden Down, part of a small cluster of monuments located a short distance north of the Dorset Cursus (Linear 41), not far from its southwest terminal. This and other sites in the vicinity (ST 91 SE 118, 119 and 175) were first reported circa 1980 by Martin Green and Barry Lewis. Excavations on these sites were undertaken by Martin Green in 1980-81. Excavation of ring ditch a37, circa 12 metres in diameter, showed it to have been surrounded by a double post circle The inner circle features larger posts than the outer. The inner circle, comprising 18 postholes, has a diameter of 12.5 metres, while the outer circle, containing 34 postholes, has a diameter of 15 metres. A double row of postholes representing a post-lined avenue runs due south from the timber circles for a distance of circa 65 metres until meeting a smaller ring ditch (ST 91 SE 175). As well as excavating the avenue's postholes as they approach each ring ditch, an area in the centre of the avenue was also excavated. Trenching south of ring ditch ST 91 SE 175 showed that the avenue did not continue beyond it. Finds from the ring ditch, post circles and the avenue were rather few. The ring ditch had been recut, and an ox skull from the base of the primary fill has produced a Late Neolithic radiocarbon date. An antler pick was also found nearby. A transverse arrowhead from ring ditch ST 91 SE 175 also hints at a Late Neolithic origin for that monument. However, oak charcoal from the inner post ring has produced a radiocarbon date of 920 +/-50 BC (uncalibrated), placing the two circles and the alignment in the Later Bronze Age.

Ring ditch identified on aerial photograph. Approximately 12 metres in diameter and associated with two other ring ditches in close proximity. Part of the Week Street Down Group - Bowen 1991 (RCHM 1975, 26) and seen as a soil mark by Mr M Green.
Ring ditch was added to the Week Street Down group (RCHM 1975, 26) and (Bowden 1991 RCHME, 7)

<1> Bowen, H C, 1990, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke (Monograph). SWX800.

<2> Bowen, H C, 1991, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke: Inventory, 7 (Monograph). SDO14864.

<3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1993, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1992, 240-4 (Serial). SDO92.

Green, M. Excavations of a prehistoric ceremonial complex at Ogden Down, Gussage St Michael.

<4> 1994, Current archaeology (Volume 138), 216-225 (Serial). SDO19397.

Green, M. Down Farm.

<5> Bradley, R, 1998, The significance of monuments: on the shaping of human experience in Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe, 155-7 (Monograph). SDO19398.

<6> Gibson, Alex, 1998, Stonehenge and timber circles (Monograph). SDO19399.

<7> Green, Martin, 2000, A Landscape Revealed. 10,000 Years on a Chalkland Farm, 114-6 (Monograph). SDO18820.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1302953 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 7 2024 4:54PM