Reasons for Designation
Enclosures provide evidence of land use, agricultural practices and habitation
from the prehistoric period onward. 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.
The earthwork enclosure in Penning Wood survives comparatively 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 on a south facing slope
at Penning Wood. It is one of several enclosures situated within Great Ridge,
an extensive area of woodland which occupies a clay outcrop on the undulating
south Wiltshire chalkland.
The enclosure is approximately diamond shaped, 83m across from east to west
and 71m from north to south and defines an area of 0.4ha. It is formed by a
bank surrounded by a ditch, the dimensions of which vary around the circuit of
the enclosure. On the north western side the bank is 4.5m wide and the ditch
approximately 8m wide and 1.1m below the crest of the bank.
The presence of earthwork remains of level platforms within the enclosure,
which may represent the site of at least three huts or houses, suggest that
the monument was an enclosed settlement, probably prehistoric in date, rather
than a pastoral enclosure as has previously been suggested.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
26852
Legacy System:
RSM
End of official list entry
