Square enclosure 350m north of Wansdyke on Bishop's Cannings Down

List Entry Summary

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.

Location

The monument may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

Legacy System Information

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Asset Groupings

This list entry does not comprise part of an Asset Grouping. Asset Groupings are not part of the official record but are added later for information.

List entry Description

Summary of Monument

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Reasons for Designation

The landscape around Avebury contains a wide range of archaeological monuments belonging to the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods and part has accordingly been included in the World Heritage Site designation. The later archaeology of this landscape is also considered to be of importance, illustrating the ways in which communities through time have both used it but also continued to respect and recognise many of its original features. The square enclosure 350m north east of Wansdyke represents part of the medieval use of the landscape. Although levelled by cultivation, features below the ploughsoil will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the enclosure's construction and the landscape in which it was built.

History

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Details

The monument includes a square enclosure, interpreted as a medieval stock enclosure, situated 350m north east of the Wansdyke on Bishop's Cannings Down. The enclosure is orientated north east to south west and encloses an area c.70m square. Although no longer visible at ground level, the enclosing bank measures c.3m wide and can be seen on aerial photographs as a cropmark. The enclosure appears to be associated with the field system represented by field boundary earthworks to the north west. These are the subject of a separate scheduling.

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.

Selected Sources

Other
SU 06 NE 012, R.C.H.M.(E), Square Enclosure, (1973)
Title: SMR 1:10000 Map Source Date: 1990 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: SU 06 NE based on Ordnance Survey
WI 676, County List of Scheduled Monuments: Wiltshire, (1992)

National Grid Reference: SU 05586 66184

Map

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This copy shows the entry on 26-Apr-2018 at 06:20:10.