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 to south on a gentle north facing slope, 200m west of Stockport. The
earthwork survives as a shallow depression 430m long, with an average width of
3m, flanked on either side by a bank, previously recorded as between 2.5m and
3m wide. The banks have been levelled by cultivation although the ditch will
survive as a buried feature. The boundary earthwork represents the surviving
elements of a longer boundary earthwork which is shown on the OS 6' map of
1926 as extending to the north west towards Amesbury. It may also have
continued to the south but the area of the earthwork has been used as a dump
and this precludes positive identification. Therefore, only the section of
linear earthwork which can be positively identified is included in the
scheduling. The linear boundary earthwork is located within a field system
which has been largely levelled by cultivation and is therefore not included
within the scheduling.
All fence posts and telegraph poles 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:
28940
Legacy System:
RSM
End of official list entry
