The eastern of two rectangular enclosures on Great Litchfield Down, SSW of Ladle Hill

Overview

Location

Reasons for Designation

Small enclosed settlements dating from the Middle Bronze Age are often associated with earlier field systems and are known on some sites to have replaced earlier unenclosed settlements. Enclosures of both sub-rectangular and curvilinear plan are known; the sites are wholly or partly surrounded by a ditch, bank or palisade, or by a combination or succession of all three. Where excavated, sites have usually been found to contain a small group of domestic buildings sufficient for a single or extended family group, although a few larger enclosures are known. Evidence of a succession of buildings has been found on some sites. The buildings are usually circular in plan but occasional rectangular structures are known. Both types of building would have provided a combination of living accommodation and storage or working areas. Storage pits have been recorded inside buildings on some sites but are generally rarely present. In addition to pottery and worked flint, large quantities of burnt stone and metal working debris have been found in some enclosures. Although the precise figure is not known, many small enclosed settlements are located on the chalk downland of southern England. As a class they are integral to understanding Bronze Age settlement and land use strategies, while their often close proximity to the numerous burial monuments in the area will provide insights into the relationship between secular and ceremonial activity during the Middle Bronze Age. A small number of small enclosed settlements survive on downland as visible earthworks; the majority, however, occur in areas of more intensive cultivation and survive in buried form, visible only from the air as soil marks and crop marks. All examples with visible earthworks, and those in buried form which retain significant surviving remains, are considered to be of national importance.

Much of the archaeological landscape of Ladle Hill and the surrounding downs is preserved as earthworks or soil- or crop-marks, which together will provide a detailed understanding of the nature and development of agriculture, land use and settlement on the north Hampshire downs. The eastern enclosure on Great Litchfield Down is part of the wider distribution of monuments of Bronze Age and later date on the downs and will contain archaeological and environmental information relating to the construction and use of the monument.

Details

The monument includes the eastern of two rectangular enclosures of possible Bronze Age date on Great Litchfield Down. The enclosure lies on the crest of a ridge running south west from Ladle Hill, c.100m away from the western enclosure. The enclosure has dimensions of c.36m (south west to north east) by c.33m. The banks of the enclosure are not clearly defined, surviving as low mounds between 1.5m and 2m wide and up to 0.3m high. A band of darker soil representing an infilled ditch surrounds the enclosure, increasing its overall dimensions to c.42m by c.36m. There is an entrance c.5m wide in the south eastern side.

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:

25621

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Ordnance Survey , SU 45NE 23, (1956)

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 Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.