Boundary feature, western section of Long Ditch across Wilsford Down
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1010262
- Date first listed:
- 10-Jan-1990
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Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1010262
- Date first listed:
- 10-Jan-1990
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Marden
- District:
- Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Chirton
- District:
- Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Wilsford
- National Grid Reference:
- SU 07695 53727
Reasons for Designation
The most complete and extensive survival of chalk 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. Boundary earthworks which include linear earthworks, so called ranch boundaries, dykes and cross ridge dykes are particularly well preserved in the Salisbury Plain Training Area. They provide important evidence of prehistoric landholdings, land reorganisation and changing agricultural practices through time.
Details
A 1,391m section of the boundary feature known as Long Ditch. The Long Ditch is c.3.5 miles long in total. This section makes a slight change of direction at SU07685374, the site of a possible barrow. To the east of this point the Long Ditch averages c.18m wide. To the west it changes structure and averages c.12m wide.
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:
- 10029
- Legacy System:
- RSM
Sources
Other
Trust for Wessex Archaeology, (1987)
Wiltshire Library & Museum Service, (1987)
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 07-Jun-2026 at 20:52:08.
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.