Monument record MDO96 - Cross dyke near Coombe Bottom, Askerswell

On the SE side of the track, 1 mile NE of the church is a cross-dyke with a ditch on the NE side. The ditch widens to the N and has another ditch crossing it at right angles, and a slight scarp to the SE suggesting a former enclosure. The ridge at this site is about 100 yards across, and about 30 yards to the SW is a barrow. <1>

[Centred at SY 54319375]. This earthwork consist of a NW-SE ditch, 100.0m long and 4.0m wide. At the NW it terminates at the road, and from ground and AP observation seems never to have crossed the ridge at all beyond the road to the NW. At the SE end the earthwork fades on the steep hillside, but for its last 40.0m has a bank on the SW side, 5.0m wide and 0.4m high.

30.0m from the road the ditch is cut at right angles by another ditch. The SW arm of this ditch is 20.0m long and 2.0m wide and rectangular in plan; the NE arms is of similar width but poorly defined E of the modern field boundary. At the junction of these ditches their depth is 1.7m and this becomes less as they proceed from this centre.

The suggested enclosure <1> occurs where the NE arm returns after 50.0m to the road, but this is by no means conclusive, being vague on both the ground and AP. The origin and purpose of the earthwork is obscure. <2>

Cross Ridge Dykes were recorded as individual monuments in Authy 1 but recent work by the Royal Commission's investigators suggest that dykes such as this should be treated as a group, in this case centred around Compton Abbas (now West Compton) (See also SY 59 SW 24, 30, 31 and SY 59 SE 6). Their arcuate disposition suggests that they were boundaries, possibly of territorial significance.

Celtic field fragments (SY 59 SW 21) lie on either side of the dyke, the field sides roughly aligned with it. <3>

SY 544937. Earthwork 80 yards long NW of Coombe Bottom. <4>






Cross dyke north west of Coombe Bottom visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. {2}

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 15 (Monograph). SDO97.

'Earthwork, on the S.E. side of the track 1 m. N.E. of the chruch, occupies the top of a narrow ridge, about 100 yards across. It consists of a length of cross-dyke with a ditch on the N.E. side. The ditch widens towards the N. and has a length of ditch crossing it at right angles and a slight scarp to the S. E., suggesting a former enclosure.'

<2> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 26-MAY-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<2.1> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 4154-5 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11452.

<3> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Unpublished revision RCHME Dorset I (West) Undated (Compton Abbas file) (Unpublished document). SDO20070.

<4> Department of the Environment, 1978, Department of the Environment (IAM) Ancient Monuments of England (Vol 2), 75 (Monograph). SWX1687.

<5> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 3153-4 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11406.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 451439 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 21 2023 3:13PM