Parsonage Down Camp earthwork enclosure and associated field system.
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1009646
- Date first listed:
- 29-Aug-1956
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1009646
- Date first listed:
- 29-Aug-1956
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 09-Mar-1990
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Shrewton
- District:
- Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Winterbourne Stoke
- District:
- Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Berwick St. James
- National Grid Reference:
- SU 03852 41305
Reasons for Designation
The most complete and extensive survival of downland archaeological remains in central southern England occurs on Salisbury Plain, particularly in those areas lying within the Salisbury Plain Training Area. These remains represent one of the few extant archaeological "landscapes" in Britain and are considered to be of special significance because they differ in character from those in other areas with comparable levels of preservation. Individual sites on Salisbury Plain are seen as being additionally important because the evidence of their direct association with each other survives so well.
Well preserved field systems particularly when in association with boundary earthworks and potentially contemporary enclosures offer valuable opportunities for understanding the nature and evolution of downland settlement during the Prehistoric and Romano-British periods. The Parsonage Down monument is of particular significance because of its excellent preservation and its proximity to the Yarnbury Castle hillfort.
Details
The monument includes a roughly oval enclosure situated within an extensive and well-preserved field system. The enclosure is situated in an elevated position 0.5 km north of Yarnbury Castle hillfort. It is some 1.2 ha in area, limited by a bank 4m wide and 1m high, and cut by a modern track. Considered to be of Iron Age or Romano-British date, the enclosure may relate to pastoral activity. The field system, which comprises the best surviving elements of a wider complex, covers an area of nearly 40 ha. It includes a "flight" of low lynchets or banks on the east-facing slope below the enclosure and limited to the south-west by a ditch. The field system may relate to the use of the enclosure or to the occupation of Yarnbury Castle.
MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 10231
- Legacy System:
- RSM
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.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 04-Jun-2026 at 14:22:51.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.