Reasons for Designation
Earthen enclosures provide evidence of land use and agricultural practices in
the prehistoric and Romano-British period, although later examples are also
known. They were constructed as stock pens or as protected areas for crop
growing and were sometimes subdivided to provide temporary accommodation for
stock, farmers or herdsmen. The size and form of enclosures may vary
considerably depending on their particular function.
Their variation in form, longevity and their relationship to other monument
classes, including extensive field systems, provide information on the
diversity and social organisation and farming practices through the period of
their use.
Twelve examples are recorded in the Avebury area, which acted as a focus for
ceremonial and ritual activity during at least the Neolithic and Early Bronze
Age periods. Later the area was settled mostly by agricultural communities,
with the area intensively farmed through to the medieval period and beyond.
The enclosures in the Avebury area are central to understanding the character
of this development. All surviving examples are considered worthy of
protection.
Details
The monument includes a roughly square earthwork enclosure situated 450m north
west of Baltic Farm on Morgan's Hill 130m north of the Wansdyke.
The enclosure is aligned on an east west axis and is surrounded by a bank c.3m
wide and up to 0.6m high. Beyond this lies a c.4m wide quarry ditch which
remains open to a depth of 1m in places. The whole is surrounded by a low
counter-scarp bank c.2m wide and up to 0.4m high. The area enclosed measures
c.180m square and covers about 3.25ha. The earthworks are more or less
continuous around the whole circuit but three entrances, c.8m wide, are
located in the south west corner, just south of the north west corner and
roughly midway along the western side. It is not possible to determine how
many of these are original.
No longer visible at ground level, but clearly seen on aerial photographs, is
a roughly oval levelled bank which is aligned east-west. It is located in the
central southern half of the enclosure. This bank is c.10m wide and encloses
an area 40m from east-west by c.25m from north-south.
Part excavation in 1909 recovered a quantity of medieval pottery from the
surface of the monument but no datable finds related to its original
construction.
Excluded from the scheduling are the post and wire fences which run along the
southern and part of the eastern sides of the enclosure bank, although the
ground beneath is included in the scheduling.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
21899
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
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
