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 north east-south west aligned cross dyke constructed
across a chalk ridge which forms part of the Sussex Downs. The cross dyke
survives as a low bank up to c.3m wide and c.0.5m high, two short sections of
which have been levelled by modern trackways. Records suggest that each side
of the bank is flanked by a ditch up to c.2m wide. These have become infilled
by regular modern ploughing and will survive as below ground archaeological
features. The cross dyke may have originally continued further across the
ridge to the south west of the monument, but any earthworks will have here
been levelled by subsequent agricultural operations, and this area is
therefore not included in the scheduling.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
29291
Legacy System:
RSM
End of official list entry
