Lynchets on north west spur of Twyford Down

Reasons for Designation

Much of the archaeological landscape of Twyford Down and the surrounding area is preserved as earthworks or crop-marks and represents a relatively complete and extensive survival. Evidence for early agriculture is provided by strip lynchets. They occur widely in southern and south eastern England, and are prominent features on the Wessex chalkland. Normally they are of medieval origin and it is unusual, as in this case, to find them directly associated with evidence of Romano-British settlement. Each lynchet or terrace has two components, consisting of a scarp or `riser' and flat strip or `tread'. They are often 200m or more in length, and usually include between two and six lynchets within a group. The surviving strip lynchets on the north west spur of Twyford Down are in excellent condition despite some disturbance by golf course landscaping and are a rare, early example of their type. Excavation has indicated that they retain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to their use and the landscape in which they were constructed.

Details

The monument includes a group of four substantial strip lynchets of late Iron Age or early Romano-British date, and several slight lynchets, probably of Early Iron Age date. It occupies a prominent position on the Hockley Golf Course at the south western end of a spur extending from Twyford Down. It is the remnant of a previously more extensive system of lynchets and settlement remains which, prior to the construction of the M3 and Winchester Bypass, covered all sides of the spur to the north, west and south. Several short sections of lynchet and an associated trackway also survive immediately north of the M3 but these have been disturbed by recent tree-planting and are not included in the scheduling. The strip lynchets extend for approximately 450m in an east-west direction along the south flank of the spur and turn sharply to the north at the west end, where they are cut by the M3. However, the field system, where it runs under the earthen bund, created to mitigate views of the motorway, is included in the scheduling. The lynchets comprise linear scarps, standing 2m-3.5m high, which divide the slope into a series of comparatively level strip fields or platforms, about 50m wide. A trackway extends around the base of one of the lynchets and they are crossed by a north-south hollow way at the east end. The smaller lynchets are restricted to the upper slopes of the spur and consist of low scarps extending from the north boundary of the golf course. Excavations in 1933 and 1991 in the M3 corridor and the field just to the south revealed evidence of Early Iron Age and Late Iron Age/Early Romano- British settlement associated with the lynchets and suggested a development from the use of small rectangular Celtic fields to Romano-British strip fields. Pits and other earthworks associated with settlement previously recorded in the field between the golf course and the M3 have now been levelled and are not included in the scheduling. All posts, fencing, signs, ball-cleaners, seats and other golf course furniture are excluded from the scheduling, as is the earthen bund, although 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:

31164

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Winchester Museums Service, , Hockley Golf Club, Twyford, Winchester, Arch. Observations, ()
Stuart, J D, Birkbeck, J M, Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club in A Celtic Village on Twyford Down, excavated 1933-34, Vol. 13, (1936), 188-207

Other
available from Wessex Archaeology, Walker, KE, M3 Bar End to Compton: Arch. Investigations on Twyford Down,

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.