Monument record MDO6058 - Enclosure on Handley Hill, Sixpenny Handley

An almost square enclosure formed by an earthwork bank with a ditch outside it. A gap in the northwest-facing side may be an entrance. This monument was excavated by Pitt-Rivers in 1893 and he subsequently "restored" the earthwork "to its original shape". He was unsure of the enclosure's date. Eventually he opted for Roman or later, though he also allowed for the possibility that it might be earlier, largely by analogy with the subrectangular enclosures of Bronze Age date he had already excavated on Cranborne Chase. However, the pottery he found has been examined more recently, and it has been dated to the twelfth century. Consequently, it is now thought more likely that the enclosure is Medieval. The key dating evidence was pointed out some years later by Stuart Piggott, who noted the occurrence of joining sherds of a Medieval cooking vessel of probable 12th century date in the bank and ditch. However, it is clear that the enclosure was constructed in an area which had seen much earlier activity. The trenching in the interior and across the earthworks recovered Roman material, including pottery and a silver denarius of Trajan from the ground surface beneath the bank. Earlier, Neolithic material was also recovered from the enclosure interior and environs (see SU 01 NW 184 for the latter).

[NGD note 23-02-23: Of the following information from the NRHE-to-HER database only (18) relates to MDO6058 directly. (22) is covered by its own record – MDO6064]

(SU 01201630) Earthwork (NR). <3>

(18) ENCLOSURES (01201630), on the S. slope of Handley Hill, 360 ft. above O.D., is almost square and covers 1/4 acres. It is bounded by a bank, nowhere more than 1 1/2 ft. high and 8 ft. wide, with an external ditch up to 1 ft. deep. A gap 6 ft. wide occurs at the centre of the N.W. side. The interior is featureless. In 1893 Pitt-Rivers excavated and interpreted the site as of prehistoric and Romano-British origin, but pottery recovered by Pitt-Rivers has been re-examined and is now found to be of the 12th century; it thus appears that the site is mediaeval but see also (22) [Note: ie MDO6064]. (Pitt-Rivers, Excavations in Cranborne Chase, IV (1898), 46-57; W.A.M., XLVII (1936), 409; P.P.S., II, n.s. (1936), 229-30).

(22) ROMAN OCCUPATION DEBRIS, including a denarius of Trajan, was found in and under the bank of a mediaeval enclosure on Handley Hill (01201630). (Pitt-Rivers, Excavation IV (1898), 46-51; P.P.S., II (1936), 229-30.) <4>

<1> Pitt-Rivers, A H L F, 1898, Excavations in Cranborne Chase near Rushmore on the Borders of Dorset and Wilts 1893-96 Volume IV, 44-57 (Monograph). SDO16623.

<2> 1936, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 2, 229-30 (Serial). SDO16732.

Piggott, S. Handley Hill, Dorset - A Neolithic Bowl and the Date of the Entrenchment

<3> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 68 (Monograph). SDO129.

'(18) ENCLOSURE (01201630) on the S. slope of Handley Hill 360 ft. above O.D., is almost square and covers ¼ acre. It is bounded by a bank, nowhere more than 1½ ft. high and 8 ft. wide, with an external ditch up to 1 ft. deep. A gap 6 ft. wide occurs at the centre of the N.W. side. The interior is featureless. In 1893 Pitt-Rivers excavated, and interpreted the site as of prehistoric and Romano-British origin, but pottery recovered by Pitt-Rivers has been re-examined and is now found to be of the 12th century; it thus appears that the site is medieval, but see also (22). (Pitt-Rivers, Excavations in Cranborne Chase, IV (1898), 46-57; W.A.M., XLVII (1936), 409; P.P.S., II, n.s. (1936), 229-30).'

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 213518 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 23 2023 3:00PM