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 linear boundary, known as the Battery Bank, situated
on the south western edge of a plateau known as Great Plantation, overlooking
Baker's Well Valley to the south west. The linear boundary forms part of a
group of similar monuments which extend (discontinuously) for a distance of
c.5.55km along the natural ridge separating the valleys of the Rivers Frome
and Piddle.
The boundary includes a bank, aligned north west by south east, composed of
earth, sand and turf, with maximum dimensions of 188m in length, 5m-7m in
width and c.0.6m in height. To the north east of the bank is a ditch from
which material was quarried during its construction. The ditch runs the full
length of the monument and is visible as an earthwork 5m wide and c.0.5m deep.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
28382
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
