Monument record MDO7336 - Cross dyke on Knowle Hill, Church Knowle

This earthwork consists of a ditch with bank to the West and crosses the line of contours of a ridge. It conforms to Curwen's classification of a univallate covered way. From A-B (see plan) the earthwork is broken - possibly by a
farmer. The tumulus at 'C' (SY 98 SW 16) was dug by Austen in September 1861 when a crouched and trussed skeleton was found together with two other crouched skeletons. This tumulus interupts the general design of the earthwork and therefore may be of later date. From D to E the earthwork continues through dense undergrowth and fades to nothing where the steep descent to the North commences. <2>

A dyke at SY 94398235, possibly associated with the Iron Age settlement (SY 98 SW 13), is 270 feet long with an original gap, now widened, near the centre. The dyke has long been ploughed, but its dimensions were probably similar to the dyke on the west (SY 98 SW 13.2). It ends on the shoulder of the steep slope to the north, but 200 feet short of the corresponding edge to the south of the entrance. The round barrow immediately to the east (SY 98 SW 16) appears to extend into the ditch, but the excavator's note that he threw soil to the west may explain this. <4>

SY 935824 "Cross ridge dykes, mound and settlement on Knowle Hill". Scheduled and protected by a Preservation Order. (Includes this dyke). <3> <5>

SY 94383233 to SY 94323242. This 90.0m long cross-ridge dyke is generally well preserved. The 30.0m long section in Norden Wood survives untouched; the bank being 0.5m high on the west side, 1.6m high on the east and the ditch, which terminates in a clearly defined rounded end at the northern on a steep slope, is 0.9m deep. However where this northern section extends S into arable it has been spread by ploughing. The slopes of the round barrow (SY 98 SW 16) almost completely fill the ditch at this point and there seems little doubt that the barrow is alter and intrusive.
The 36.0m long southern section which ends at a well-worn track has a bank 0.5m high on the west side 1.0m high on the east and a 0.5m deep ditch. The apparent constriction in the ditch at the southern end corresponds to a lowering in the bank suggesting mutilation and truncation but the precise southern tremination was not determined. The 8m wide gap which separates the N & S sections still has an identifiable causeway. Published 1/2500 survey revised. <6>

A prehistoric cross dyke on Knowle Hill is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs <8-9>. It was digitally plotted during the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project.

Papworth, M D J, Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1983, Isle of Purbeck Survey, IOP 242 (Index). SDO147.

‘Lies in ley pasture. Occasionally ploughed. 7/7/C.’

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1929 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 94388235) Earthwork (NR)

<2> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F1 JR 16-JUL-52 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<3> Department of the Environment, DOE (IAM) Ancient Monuments Record Form, 9.10.63 (Index). SDO17347.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 518 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘(56) Cross-ridge Dykes, five, on Knowle Hill (SY 98 sw; Fig. opp. p. 509, Plate 212), are of varying form; (c) and (d) are complex. Some or all are likely to be contemporary with the Iron Age 'A' settlement, Church Knowle (54), which lies between (c) and (d), the ditches of all the dykes being on the side distant from it. The apparently unfinished works along the N. shoulder between (c) and (d) suggest that there may have been an intention to enclose this area. … (e) (94398235), 810 yds. E. of (d), is 270 ft. long with an original gap near the centre, now widened. It has long been ploughed but its dimensions were probably similar to (d): there is an apparent constriction of the ditch 60 ft. S. of the entrance. A round barrow (Church Knowle (40)), immediately E., appears to extend into the ditch but the excavator's note that he threw soil to the W. may explain this (Purbeck Papers I, 110–15). The dyke ends on the shoulder of the steep slope to the N., but 200 ft. short of the corresponding edge to the S.’

<5> Department of the Environment, 1978, Department of the Environment (IAM) Ancient Monuments of England (Vol 2), 76 (Monograph). SWX1687.

<6> Fletcher, Martin, Field investigator's comments MJF, F2 MJF 30-APR-1986 (Unpublished document). SDO17630.

<7> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<8> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1821 2412-13 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13498.

<9> National Monuments Record, 18-NOV-2005, NMR SY 9482/3-5; 10-11 (NMR 24139/42-4; 49-50) (Aerial Photograph). SDO13508.

<10> National Record of the Historic Environment, 456933 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 3 2025 10:52AM