Monument record MDO4531 - Cross dyke on Okeford Hill, Okeford Fitzpaine

A cross dyke across the base of a spur. In 1970 this monument was recorded as being an earthwork bank around 30 feet wide, 6 feet high and 285 yards long with a ditch 27 feet wide and 4 feet deep. A causeway crosses the dyke near the centre, and is thought to be original. The feature is visible as broken banked and ditched earthworks on aerial photographs and current Environment Agency lidar imagery and was digitally plotted during the Mid Dorset Downs AIM project.

ST 81580969 to ST 81800958 Cross-dyke curving N.W.E. at over 600 ft. above O.D. across the base of a spur sloping N.N.E., faces up the rounded spur top towards higher ground and is some 285 yds. long. The bank is 30 ft. wide and 6 ft. high; the ditch is 27 ft. wide and 4 ft. deep. An entrance, possibly original and slightly staggered, crossed by the parish boundary with Shillingstone, occurs E. of the centre; it has a causeway across the ditch, though a way past the W. end and possibly also the E. end is conceivable. At either end the dyke runs out just short of the shoulder of the spur. 'Celtic' fields (ST 80 NW 6) lie on either side of the dyke and one long lynchet is crossed by the bank and cut by the ditch. <2>

The feature is visible as broken banked and ditched earthworks on aerial photographs and current Environment Agency lidar imagery (RAF 1947; OS 1975; NMR 2005; EA 2018). The feature as visible on these sources appears to extend for around 480m and is cut by later pathways. The eastern end appears slightly offset where the now parish boundary crosses it. A later prehistoric field system lies adjacent to the cross dyke on both sides and appears to respect the feature, although a long lynchet at the western end appears possibly to be cut by the cross dyke's bank and ditch. The feature was digitally plotted during the Mid Dorset Downs AIM project.

Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 RS 4169 (Aerial Photograph). SDO21600.

National Monuments Record, 24-JAN-2005, NMR 23782/2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO21612.

Ordnance Survey, 28-AUG-1975, OS 75371 V 6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO21611.

Environment Agency, xx-xxx-2018, Environment Agency National Lidar Programme DTM 1M (Aerial Photograph). SDO21483.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey map 1:10,560, 1968 (Map). SDO18658.

(ST 81580968-ST 81780958) Earthwork

<2> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 207 (Monograph). SDO136.

‘(42) Cross-dyke (81580969-81809958), curving N.W.-E. at over 600 ft. above O.D. across the base of a spur sloping N.N.E., faces up the rounded spur top towards higher ground and is some 285 yds. long. The bank is 30 ft. wide and 6 ft. high; the ditch is 27 ft. wide and 4 ft. deep. An entrance, possibly original and slightly staggered, crossed by the parish boundary with Shillingstone, occurs E. of centre; it has a causeway across the ditch, though a way past the W. end and possibly also the El end is conceivable. At either end the dyke runs out just short of the shoulder of the spur. ‘Celtic’ fields (Group 57) lie on either side of the dyke and one long lynchet is crossed by the bank and cut by the ditch.’

<3> DCMS, 1999, Scheduled Monument Notification 1999, 07-JUL-1999 (Scheduling record). SDO17351.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1963, Monuments Threatened or Destroyed. A Select List: 1956-1962, 14 (Monograph). SDO12558.

'OKEFORD HILL [ST 817097] Cross-dyke, 850 ft. long, with entrance, cutting off promontory area of about 8 acres; lying over 'Celtic' fields, which formerly covered promontory.'

<5> Historic England, Historic England Archive, AO55/184/5 (Index). SDO14738.

POSSIBLE UNFINISHED IA PROMONTARY FORT OR CROSS-RIDGE DYKE ONE OF A STEREO PAIR. VIEW FROM SOUTH-EAST OF THE ENTRANCE

<6> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OS55/F184/5 (Index). SDO14738.

CROSS DYKE AT OKEFORD FITZPAINE. EARTHWORK FROM SOUTH EAST OF ENTRANCE.

<7> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OS55/F184/6 (Index). SDO14738.

CROSS DYKE AT OKEFORD FITZPAINE. EARTHWORK FROM SOUTH EAST OF ENTRANCE.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 205545 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 29 2025 10:27AM