Reasons for Designation
Cross dykes are substantial linear earthworks typically between 0.2km and 1km
long and comprising one or more ditches arranged beside and parallel to one or
more banks. They generally occur in upland situations, running across ridges
and spurs. They are recognised as earthworks or as cropmarks on aerial
photographs, or as combinations of both. The evidence of excavation and
analogy with associated monuments demonstrates that their construction spans
the millennium from the Middle Bronze Age, although they may have been re-used
later. Current information favours the view that they were used as territorial
boundary markers, probably demarcating land allotment within communities,
although they may also have been used as trackways, cattle droveways or
defensive earthworks. Cross dykes are one of the few monument types which
illustrate how land was divided up in the prehistoric period. They are of
considerable importance for any analysis of settlement and land use in the
Bronze Age. Very few have survived to the present day and hence all well-
preserved examples are considered to be of national importance.
Details
The monument includes a roughly north-south aligned cross dyke constructed
across a chalk ridge which forms part of the Sussex Downs. The c.394m long
earthwork has a ditch up to c.10m wide and c.0.5m deep, flanked to the west by
a low bank. At its northern end and along a short stretch c.70m from its
southern end, a second low bank runs along the eastern side of the ditch. The
earthworks have been partly disturbed by post-medieval flint diggings and tree
roots, and long term use of several downland tracks which cross the monument
have levelled short sections of the banks. To the south, the earthworks
gradually fade out as the ground falls away, whilst the northern end of the
dyke is formed by a more sharply defined and elaborate terminal, with a
second, short length of ditch flanking the western bank.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
29250
Legacy System:
RSM
End of official list entry
