Two earthwork enclosures and a linear earthwork 625m north of Barbury Castle

Overview

Heritage Category: Scheduled Monument

List Entry Number: 1016362

Date first listed: 08-Dec-1997

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

National Grid Reference: SU 14923 76917

Summary

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Reasons for Designation

Earthen enclosures provide evidence of land use and agricultural practices in the prehistoric and Romano-British period, although later examples are also known. They were constructed as stock pens or as protected areas for crop growing and were sometimes subdivided to provide temporary accommodation for stock, farmers or herdsmen. The size and form of enclosures may vary considerably depending on their particular function. Their variation in form, longevity and their relationship to other monument classes, including extensive field systems, provide information on the diversity and social organisation and farming practices through the period of their use. Despite being disturbed by quarrying activity, the two enclosures and associated linear earthwork 625m north of Barbury Castle hillfort will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

History

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Details

The monument includes two earthwork enclosures and a linear earthwork which lie on the flat plain below the downland escarpment occupied by Barbury Castle hillfort 625m to the south. The enclosures are aligned from east to west and are curvilinear in plan. A length of linear earthwork links the two enclosures. The eastern enclosure includes a bank approximately 6m wide and an outer ditch 0.7m deep and up to 6m wide. The ditch and part of the bank on the north and east sides have been disturbed by quarrying activities. A length of bank which extends from the north west corner of the enclosure is considered to be upcast from the quarry and is therefore not included in the scheduling. The bank and ditch of the western enclosure have been disturbed by quarrying activities on its northern side and survives as an earthwork only on the southern side. The surviving length of bank is approximately 5m wide and the ditch approximately 6m wide by 0.7m deep. The two earthwork enclosures are linked by a length of linear earthwork 80m long. This has a bank 6m wide to the south of which is a ditch 6m wide. The ditch extends beyond the length of the bank to the east and west and forms the southern ditch of the enclosures. A further enclosure, a short distance to the south, is the subject of a separate scheduling. All fence posts and horse jumps are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number: 28970

Legacy System: RSM

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 Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.