Linear earthwork S of village

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1002262
Date first listed:: 14-Jul-1966

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1002262
Date first listed:: 14-Jul-1966

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: East Sussex
District:: Lewes (District Authority)
Parish:: Falmer
National Park:: SOUTH DOWNS
National Grid Reference:: TQ3584807520

Summary

Linear Earthwork on Falmer’s Hill, 1.1km SSE of Court Farmhouse.

Reasons for Designation

The linear earthwork on Falmer’s Hill, 1.1km SSE of Court Farmhouse survives well and will contain archaeological and environmental information relating to its construction and function. Despite the uncertainty concerning its identification it is clear that this earthwork is unusual in form and of substantial construction and for this reason must be considered as of importance. The presence of a stock enclosure, cross dykes and round barrow cemeteries in the vicinity, which form separate scheduled monuments, enhance its significance.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 31 July 2014. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes a linear earthwork situated on a north-east chalk downland slope between Falmer’s Hill and Loose Bottom in the South Downs, east of Brighton. The earthwork is denoted by a linear bank and ditch about 860m in length. The bank is up to 1m high and the ditch is up to 1.5m deep and 2.7m wide. It follows a straight course for nearly 400m from Falmer Road towards the south-east before curving to the north-east. It then runs for about 370m before turning north-west and continuing for a distance of about 80m. A section of the earthwork to the north has been destroyed during the widening of Falmer Road. The function and origin of the earthwork is unknown. The area of Loose Bottom is shown as a ‘Big Gun Range’, ‘practice ground of the 1st Sussex Volunteer Artillery’ on the 1873 Sussex OS Map (1:2500) with a gun platform and flag staff nearby. The earthwork is marked as an ‘Ancient Valley Entrenchment’ with a sheepfold close by on the 1911 Sussex OS Map (1:2500). It is recorded in one documentary source as of medieval origin, with evidence of a building nearby, and may have been used for corralling stock.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: ES 254
Legacy System:: RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
NMR TQ30NE74. PastScape 973823. ,

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.