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 mainly north west-south east aligned, `L'-shaped
linear earthwork, interpreted as a prehistoric boundary, constructed across
the south western slope of a chalk ridge which forms part of the Sussex Downs.
The c.366m long boundary has a large bank up to c.3m high and c.11m wide, two
short sections of which have been levelled by modern agricultural activity.
The bank is flanked on its north western, upslope side by a ditch up to c.7m
wide and c.1m deep. This has become infilled in places over the years, but
will survive here in buried form. Around 300m from its north western end, the
boundary turns sharply southwards. Both ends of the earthwork are formed by
well-defined terminals.
The modern fences which cross the monument are excluded from the scheduling,
although the ground beneath them is included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
29249
Legacy System:
RSM
End of official list entry
