Reasons for Designation
Enclosures provide evidence of land use, agricultural practices and habitation
from the prehistoric period onwards. They were constructed as stock pens, as
protected areas for crop growing or for settlement and their size and function
may vary considerably depending on their particular function. Their variation
in form, longevity and their relationship to other monument classes, including
field systems and linear boundary earthworks, provide information on the
diversity of social organisation and farming practices throughout the period
of their use.
Enclosures are central to understanding the development of the rural landscape
and as such all well preserved examples are considered worthy of protection.
Despite the northern part of the enclosure in Great Ridge wood having been
levelled, probably by cultivation, the remainder of the enclosure survives
well and will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence
relating to the monument and the landsape in which it was constructed.
Details
The monument includes an earthwork enclosure located within Great Ridge wood
to the north east of Chicklade. It is one of several enclosures located in the
extensive woodland which occupies a clay outcrop in the gently undulating
south Wiltshire chalkland.
The enclosure is approximately circular and defines an area of 1.4ha. It
survives partly as an earthwork and partly as a buried feature. The overall
diameter is 140m from east to west and 146m from north to south.
The southern part of the enclosure is formed by a ditch with a maximum width
of 5m and a maximum depth of 0.9m, either side of which is a bank up to 4m
wide and 0.45m high. The inner face of the counterscarp bank has been revetted
with flint nodules. There are now no visible earthworks in the northern part
of the enclosure, although the ditch will survive as a buried feature.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
26850
Legacy System:
RSM
End of official list entry
