Deepdale cross ridge dyke

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 section of cross dyke survives well. It will retain significant information relating to the manner and duration of its usage, and, together with other similar dykes in the vicinity, will provide an insight into Prehistoric land division in the area.

Details

The monument includes a Prehistoric cross dyke on the Yorkshire Wolds. The dyke runs from east to west from Deepdale toward Warrendale. The monument is 330m in length and has an overall width of 30m. It includes a complex of three banks and three ditches. The central linear bank is 1m high and 12m in breadth and has a ditch 4m wide and 1m deep on either side. These ditches are also bounded to north and south by slighter banks each 0.6m high and 5m wide. One further slight ditch is also visible to the south of the southern outer bank. It is 0.3m high and 3m in breadth. For most of its length the dyke runs east to west although it turns to the south east at its eastern end. At its western end the dyke is bounded by a modern road, there is no visible evidence that the monument ever continued westward beyond this point.

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:

21135

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
4581, Humberside SMR 4581,

End of official list entry

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