Section of linear earthwork on Seamer Moor Hill

Reasons for Designation

Cross dykes are substantial linear earthworks typically between 0.2km and 1km long and comprising one or more ditches arranged beside and parallel to one or more banks. They generally occur in upland situations, running across ridges and spurs. They are recognised as earthworks or as cropmarks on aerial photographs, or as combinations of both. The evidence of excavation and analogy with associated monuments demonstrates that their construction spans the millennium from the Middle Bronze Age, although they may have been re-used later. Current information favours the view that they were used as territorial boundary markers, probably demarcating land allotment within communities, although they may also have been used as trackways, cattle droveways or defensive earthworks. Cross dykes are one of the few monument types which illustrate how land was divided up in the prehistoric period. They are of considerable importance for any analysis of settlement and land use in the Bronze Age. Very few have survived to the present day and hence all well- preserved examples are considered to be of national importance.

This linear earthwork survives reasonably well. Although affected by landscaping at the wireless station, the course of a track and tree-planting, the monument remains visible as an earthwork feature. Together with other cross dykes in the immediate vicinity it will contribute to an understanding of prehistoric land division in the area.

Details

The monument includes a section of linear earthwork, a member of a wider group of similar monuments in this area of the North Yorkshire moors. The monument comprises a central earthen bank up to 1.5m high and 10m wide flanked by ditches up to 1m deep and 7m wide. These ditches are flanked by external earthen banks 0.3m high and 5m wide. The best preserved section of this earthwork is situated in the woods immediately to the south of the boundary with the wireless station. An unmetalled track crosses the earthwork in the woods.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

23835

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
9160, North Yorkshire SMR,

End of official list entry

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