Reasons for Designation
Itford Hill style settlements are small domestic settlements of one to three
households, usually covering an area of between 1ha and 3ha, comprising a
series of small banked compounds set back to back. The compounds are
frequently associated with tracks and hollow ways which link the settlements
to field systems, and round barrow cemeteries are often nearby. The
settlements date to the Late Bronze Age (tenth to eighth centuries BC).
Excavated examples have shown that the compounds usually contain circular
wooden buildings varying in diameter from 3m to 8m, with entrance porches.
Associated with these structures would have been a series of working areas and
fenced compounds; small ponds have also been found. Finds, including
loomweights and carbonised grain, provide evidence for the practice of a mixed
farming economy.
Itford Hill style settlements are found in southern England, principally in
the chalk downland of Sussex where Itford Hill itself is located. They are a
rare monument type, with less than 20 examples known nationally.
Details
The monument includes an Itford Hill style settlement situated on a chalk hill
which forms part of the Sussex Downs. This takes the form of a small, north
west-south east aligned oval enclosure bounded by a ditch up to c.6m wide and
c.0.75m deep and a bank c.4m wide and up to c.0.5m high, the eastern side of
which has been partly levelled by modern ploughing. Access to the interior was
by way of a causewayed gap through the south eastern ramparts. Part excavation
of the enclosure between 1952-57 showed that it was constructed in, and
underwent at least one phase of redevelopment during, the Late Bronze Age
(tenth to eighth centuries BC). Traces of three timber round houses each c.20m
in diameter were discovered within the interior, and clay loom-weights found
in one suggested that it was used as a weaving shed. Other features revealed
by the excavation were a series of pits, several wooden structures interpreted
as lean-to buildings, and a pond which survives as a roughly circular
depression within the south eastern sector of the enclosure. Three
contemporary multiple cremation burials were found to have been deposited in
the ground beneath two of the houses and close to the enclosure entrance. The
excavation also discovered evidence for an earlier, unenclosed settlement
dating to the Middle Bronze Age beneath the Late Bronze Age enclosure.
The settlement was associated with a nearby field system which has been
levelled by modern ploughing and is therefore not included in the scheduling.
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:
29272
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
