Monument record MDO6375 - Enclosure on Oakley Down, Wimborne St Giles

A rectangular earthwork enclosure on Oakley Down, located in the bottom of a dry valley. It is described as being roughly square, around 70 feet across and consisting of a bank 10 feet across and 1 foot high, with an inner ditch of similar dimensions surrounding a slightly raised interior. There is an entrance gap on the west side, facing the Ackling Dyke Roman road.

No conclusion can be reached regarding the purpose of this enclosure but it is significant that it lies close to a Roman road with a possible entrance facing the road. (See photographs and section). <1>

Neither RCHME nor the Ordnance Survey could offer a date or function, although the former <5> listed it among a discussion of 'small square enclosures (probable Iron Age barrows)'.

<1> Swatridge, G C, Various, Field Investigators Comments GCS, F1 GCS 21-MAY-54 (Unpublished document). SWX1169.

<2> Historic England, Historic England Archive, Object Number: 1093697. Object Title: SU 01 NW 46 (1954) (Index). SDO14738.

Index Card. Includes profile only and photos (x2). Antiquity Model: Surveyed

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

(SU 02071732) Earthwork (NR)

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 104 (Monograph). SDO129.

'(125) Rectangular Enclosure (02071732), on Oakley Down, lies in the bottom of a dry valley just E. of the Roman road; it is under rough grass and isolated in arable. Roughly square, it measures some 70 ft. across overall and comprises a bank, 10 ft. across and 1 ft. high, with an inner ditch of similar dimensions surrounding a slightly raised interior. There is a possible entrance in the W. side.'

<5> Bowen, H C, 1990, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke, 81, 91 (Monograph). SWX800.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 213545 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 8 2023 9:45AM