Monument record MDO6111 - Earthworks on Gussage Hill

A complex of single and multiple ditched linears on Gussage Hill, visible as both earthworks and cropmarks. The complex as a whole is of considerable extent, incorporating several enclosures and associated with traces of a field system . The complex was first recorded and described by Colt Hoare in the early 19th century, though further elements have come to light since then. The most northwesterly element of the complex is as follows: a single ditch and bank, partly extant as earthworks and also marking the modern boundary between the parishes of Gussage St Michael and Sixpenny Handley. Following a slightly sinuous but broadly southwest-northeast course between ST 98051390, the single ditch and bank is eventually supplemented by further lines of bank and ditch. At ST 99151435, the linears meet the northern end of enclosure ST 91 SE 135 before turning north-northeast for around 250 metres, and then turning northwest for a further 600 metres or so before fading from view. However, the alignment does appear to be continued by linear features a little further north. A series of linear ditches and field systems, broadly sharing the same alignments as the main linear are also visible to the north and west.

IRON AGE AND ROMANO-BRITISH SETTLEMENT (991143-000133), on Gussage Hill, associated with boundary dykes and 'Celtic' fields (ST 91 SE 12), is one of the largest native occupation sites in Dorset. Extending for nearly a mile from the N.W. to S.E. it lies on a N.E. slope, just below the summit of the hill, between 300 ft. and 375 ft. above O.D. The central part of the complex overlies the Dorset Cursus which was integrated with the accompanying pattern of 'Celtic' fields. The earliest plan and account of the site, by Sir Richard Colt Hoare (a) suggests that it was relatively undamaged at that time, but subsequent accounts show that within a century ploughing had began to take its toll.

Today, much of the site has been damaged or levelled by cultivation, and from surface inspection of the surviving remains it is not possible to recover with any accuracy the sequence of development.

The N.W. end of the site comprises an irregular, elongated enclosure of about 16 acres defined by a bank with an external ditch. Two smaller enclosures, defined by the same bank and ditch intrude into the N.E. side of the main enclosure, but are entered from outside it by means of narrow, funnel-like approaches. The northern of these smaller enclosures, covering about 1/2 acre, has been discovered only recently from the air. The southern, about 3/4 acre, has traces of 'outworks' at the entrance. The smaller enclosures were probably for livestock and that on the S.E. is notably devoid of surface finds relating to human occupation. Between the two smaller enclosures, an occupation area (99251415) shows up under the plough as patches of dark soil associated with concentrations of pottery, chiefly Romano-British coarse wares with some samian ware, including a base with the stamp of Maximinus of Lezoux (c. 155-180), indicating that the site was occupied from the early 2nd to the 4th century. Sherds of late Iron Age type have also been recovered. Colt Hoare shows occupation extending as far as the N. end of the main enclosure. Fragments of a haematite-coated furrowed bowl of early Iron Age type were found just W. of the enclosure, at 990143. Boundary dykes, almost certainly later than the main enclosure, extend N. and W. from its N. end. Near the enclosure they comprise three low, rounded parallel banks, close-set with intervening ditches, but these divide or diminish in number as they get further away from the enclosure. It is possible that they represent further enclosures, elsewhere destroyed. The area (986150) adjacent to the dykes, W of Thorney Down Farm, appears from an air photograph to have been divided into a number of roughly rectangular enclosures defined by ditches.Other boundary dykes, both single and multiple, extend S.E. from the main enclosure and define an elongated triangular area of about 22 acres; it crosses the Cursus and incorporates long barrows and round barrows. Adjoining it on the N.E. are traces of smaller enclosures
and beyond it on the S.E., towards the Roman road, is a second occupation area (around 999135). Surface pottery from this area is confined almost entirely to later Romano-British wares (3rd and 4th century) including New Forest products.

Almost certainly this is the site where Colt Hoare dug 'in several places and found Roman pottery, brick flues, and even stuccoed walls painted'. Adjacent (999134), a small trapezoidal earthwork, about 110 ft. by 90 ft., is defined by a bank with an external ditch, now heavily ploughed. A small test excavation failed to establish its relationship with the occupation site. Finds from the site are in D.C.M. and B.M. <2>

Additional information on banjo and trapezoidal enclosures, plus a revised plan. Air photographs reveal a continuation of the linear features of the site as follows:
ST 98531464 to SW, length 850m
ST 98561505 to SW, length 500m
NW of Gussage Hill; roughly parallel, sinuous, may have connected with [ST 91 SE 111, Sixpenny Handley], and [ST 91 SE 1, Tarrant Hinton].
ST 99951475. Triple ditch for 250 m terminating sharply at W and thence extending S at right angles as single ditch for 100m.
SU 00171463 to SE for 380m. <3-4>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(ST 994138) Settlement (ST 98141390-ST 98901509) Earthwork (NR)

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 24 (Monograph). SDO129.

<2.10> NMR ST 9913/5/234 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19529.

<2.1> Colt Hoare, Sir Richard, 1975, The ancient history of Wiltshire, 31-3 (Monograph). SDO18077.

<2.11> NMR ST 9914/5 11 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19528.

<2.2> Crawford, O G S and Keiller, A, 1928, Wessex from the Air (Monograph). SDO12591.

<2.3> St Joseph CM 072 B1 61 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19524.

<2.4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1952, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1951, 115 (Serial). SDO51.

<2.5> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1969, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1968, 163-4 (Serial). SDO68.

<2.6> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1970, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1969, 193 (Serial). SDO69.

<2.7> NMR ST 9914/13 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19525.

<2.8> HSL/UK/62/263 2607 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19526.

<2.9> St Joseph, J K, St Joseph LL 10 ANE 32 AQY 83 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19527.

<3> Bowen, H C, 1990, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke, 93, 50 (Monograph). SWX800.

<3.1> NMR OAP ST 9913/11/475 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19523.

<4> Bowen, H C, 1991, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke: Inventory, 1, 27 (Monograph). SDO14864.

<4.1> Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photography, CUCAP OAP AJK17 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18848.

<5> Barrett, J, Bradley, R and Green, M, 1991, Landscape, Monuments and Society: the prehistory of Cranborne Chase, 227-247 (Monograph). SDO16633.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 210005 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 24 2023 11:44AM