Reasons for Designation
Linear boundaries are substantial earthwork features comprising single or
multiple ditches and banks which may extend over distances varying between
less than 1km to over 10km. They survive as earthworks or as linear features
visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs or as a combination of both. The
evidence of excavation and study of associated monuments demonstrate that
their construction spans the millennium from the Middle Bronze Age, although
they may have been re-used later.
The scale of many linear boundaries has been taken to indicate that they were
constructed by large social groups and were used to mark important boundaries
in the landscape; their impressive scale displaying the corporate prestige of
their builders. They would have been powerful symbols, often with religious
associations, used to define and order the territorial holdings of those
groups who constructed them. Linear earthworks are of considerable importance
for the analysis of settlement and land use in the Bronze Age; all well
preserved examples will normally merit statutory protection.
Details
The monument includes a section of linear boundary earthwork aligned broadly
north - south on a gentle south west facing slope of Amesbury Down, west of
Stock Bottom. The earthwork is the southernmost surviving section of a more
extensive linear boundary, traces of which are visible on aerial photographs
immediately to the north.
The overall form of the linear boundary varies within the monument. Its most
northerly section survives for a length of 120m as a ditch 3.5m wide and 0.5m
deep on either side of which a bank has previously been recorded. The overall
width of the boundary at this point was recorded as 12m. For a further 90m
south of this section the ditch of the boundary survives as a soilmark 4m wide
and traces of a bank are visible as a soilmark 4m wide on its eastern side.
The boundary here changes direction to run north west - south east. Part
excavation at this point in 1966 revealed three phases of construction and a
possible gate structure. From this point for a distance of 170m the boundary
survives as a ditch 6m wide and 0.5m deep flanked on its north east side by a
bank 6m wide and 0.9m high. There are no indications within this section of a
bank on the other side of the ditch. At the southern end of this section the
bank has been levelled by the Stock Bottom road, beneath which the ditch will
survive as a buried feature. To the south of the road the final 90m length of
the boundary was previously recorded as a ditch flanked on either side by a
bank and with an overall width of 10m. The banks have been levelled and the
ditch infilled by cultivation but the ditch will survive as a buried feature.
The linear boundary earthwork lies within an extensive ancient field system.
This has largely been levelled by cultivation and is not included within the
scheduling.
The modern road surface and all fence posts are excluded from the scheduling
although the ground beneath these features is included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
28935
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
