Reasons for Designation
Minchinhampton Common is unusual in preserving in good condition a landscape
which contains a wide range of monuments dating from the prehistoric period to
World War II. The Common has been the site of prehistoric fields and defensive
sites, medieval and post-medieval roads, hollow ways and turnpike systems,
medieval and post-medieval quarrying, a post-medieval warren and World War II
defences.
Besides containing monuments which are of national importance in their own
right, for example The Bulwarks, the Iron Age bank and ditch at Amberley and
the post-medieval warren, Minchinhampton Common is important in preserving the
relationships between a variety of different types of monument of varying
date. Although archaeological landscapes such as this are known in a number of
locations, they are generally located in remote upland situations.
Minchinhampton Common, by virtue of its continuing status as common land, has
survived between two villages (Amberley and Minchinhampton) in an area of high
agricultural pressure.
The boundary earthwork comprising the banks and ditch at Glebe Farm are part
of the complex of Minchinhampton Common earthworks. It is important in that it
forms part of a more extensive system of boundaries, not yet fully mapped or
understood.
Details
The monument includes a ditch flanked by a bank on each side, situated on the
east side of Minchinhampton, some 500m to the east of Minchinhampton Common.
It lies slightly off the flat upland plateau on which Minchinhampton is sited.
The ditch and banks form an eastern outlier of a complex and diverse spread of
earthworks dating from the late prehistoric period to the present day, which
represent the changing land use of the area through time.
The banks and ditch run parallel in a north east-south west direction for some
200m. The west bank is about 1m high and 8m wide. Fronting the bank on its
east side is a flat-bottomed ditch about 1.5m deep. It is about 7m wide at its
base and 10m to 12m wide at its top. The east bank is about 0.3m high and 1.4m
wide.
No dating evidence has been recovered from the monument, but its form and
dimensions would indicate that it was intended as a boundary earthwork.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
28527
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
