Monument record MDO4767 - Cross dyke on Bulbarrow Hill, Stoke Wake

A dyke across the narrowest part of a spur to the east of Rawlesbury Camp, a hillfort. The monument consists of a ditch with banks on either side. In 1970 the west bank was reported as being about 12 feet wide and 1 foot high, the east bank 10 feet wide and 6 inches high, and the ditch with a flat bottom about 10 feet wide. Overall about 120 yards survived as a discernible earthwork. The feature is visible as broken sections of ditched and banked earthworks on 1940s aerial photographs and current Environment Agency lidar imagery. In total the feature potentially extends for a little under 90m, although to the south of the road the detail and extent are very unclear. It was digitally recorded during the Mid Dorset Downs AIM project.

ST 77000598- 77030586. A cross-dyke, probably related to Rawlsbury Camp - Iron Age hillfort (ST 70 NE 12), runs almost north to south up the north face and across the narrowest part of the spur at the west end of Bulbarrow Hill. The dyke is 120 yds long with the west bank 12ft. wide and 1ft. high and flat-bottomed ditch 15ft. wide and 1ft. deep.

The east bank is 10ft. wide and 1/2ft. high. To the north the remains become very slight before running out on a steep slope; to the south the dyke is cut by tracks on the spur top, and it appears not to have dropped down the south scarp. On the north slope it cuts a lynchet, apparently of a 'Celtic' field. (1)

The feature is visible as broken sections of ditched and banked earthworks on 1940s aerial photographs and current Environment Agency lidar imagery (RAF 1945; RAF 1947; EA 2018). The feature is clearest to the north of the road where it comprises a double banked linear earthwork with inner ditch; the banks roughly 2-3m wide, the ditch much the same. To the south of the road there is a faint suggestion of the ditch continuing southwards from the road on the 1940s aerial photographs (RAF 1945; RAF1947), and just possibly echoed on current lidar imagery (EA 2018). In total the feature potentially extends for a little under 90m, although to the south of the road the detail and extent are very unclear. It was digitally recorded during the Mid Dorset Downs AIM project.

Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 FS 2175 (Aerial Photograph). SDO21717.

Royal Air Force, 27-MAR-1945, RAF/106G/LA200 FP 1084 (Aerial Photograph). SDO21692.

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

<1> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 259 (Monograph). SDO136.

‘(7) CROSS-DYKE (77000598-77030586) runs almost N.-S., up the N. face and across the narrowest part of the spur at the W. end of Bulbarrow Hill, only 150 yds. E. of the E. entrance to Rawlsbury Camp (6). Its length is 120 yds. The W. bank is 12 ft. wide and 1 ft. high, the ditch is 15 ft. wide and 1 ft. deep, and the E. bank is 10 ft. wide and ½ ft. high. The ditch bottom is markedly flat and about 10 ft. wide. To the N. the remains become very slight before running out on a steep slope; to the S. the dyke is cut by tracks on the spur top and it appears not to have dropped down the S. scarp. On the N. slope it cuts a lynchet, apparently of a ‘Celtic’ field.’

<2> Historic England, National Record of the Historic Environment, 201779 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 16 2026 3:06PM