Reasons for Designation
Between 50 and 70 causewayed enclosures are recorded nationally, mainly in
southern and eastern England. They were constructed over a period of some 500
years during the middle part of the Neolithic period (c.3000-2400 BC) but also
continued in use into later periods. They vary considerably in size (from 2 to
70 acres) and were apparently used for a variety of functions, including
settlement, defence, and ceremonial and funerary purposes. However, all
comprise a roughly circular to ovoid area bounded by one or more concentric
rings of banks and ditches. The ditches, from which the monument class derives
its name, were formed of a series of elongated pits punctuated by unexcavated
causeways. Causewayed enclosures are amongst the earliest field monuments to
survive as recognisable features in the modern landscape and are one of the
few known Neolithic monument types. Due to their rarity, their wide diversity
of plan, and their considerable age, all causewayed enclosures are considered
to be nationally important.
Details
The monument includes the banks, ditches, causeways and internal area of a
Neolithic enclosure situated on a saddle of ground between the two summits of
Combe Hill. The monument takes the form of a double circuit of ditch segments
of lengths between 10m and 35m, each with an earthen bank on its inner edge
and each separated from the next ditch by a causeway of undisturbed chalk.
The inner circuit encloses an area of some 1.1 ha. It does not appear to be
complete, however, since the slope on the north side is very steep and shows
no evidence on the surface of earthworks. The outer ditch survives as
earthworks to the east and west of the inner circuit but there is no surface
indication of an outer circuit of ditches on the north or south sides where
the ground again slopes significantly. The banks survive to a maximum height
of 0.8m above ground level, the ditches to a depth of 0.5m below it.
Partial excavation in 1949 recovered confirmatory evidence of the Neolithic
date of the enclosure in the form of stone tools and pottery.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
12874
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals
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.
End of official list entry
