Enclosure and linear earthworks between Bishopstrow Down and South Down Sleight

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1010283
Date first listed:: 22-Jan-1990

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1010283
Date first listed:: 22-Jan-1990

Location

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

District:: Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Bishopstrow
District:: Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Norton Bavant
District:: Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Warminster
National Grid Reference:: ST 91942 47399

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.

Enclosures provide important evidence of land use and agricultural practices in the prehistoric/Romano-British period. The enclosures in the Salisbury Plain Training Area belong to one of the most important and best preserved fossil landscapes in southern Britain. The presence of these remains and their relationship with extensive field systems and settlement complexes, are of critical importance to understanding the character and development of Downland agriculture.

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

An enclosure bounded on two sides by related linear earthworks. 1 - A section of linear bank and ditch earthwork running north-west/south-east across the ridge between Bishopstrow Down and South Down Sleight. There has been some damage by military vehicles. 2 - A sub-rectangular earthwork enclosure measuring c.25m north-west/south- east and 21m north-east/south-west. There are traces of a possible ditch outside the banks which are up to 0.75m high. (ST91524747) 3 - A section of boundary ditch running south-west/north-east. It joins a section of linear earthwork running north-west/south-east at its northern end. It is c.5m wide and c.220m long.

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:: 10088
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.