Section of Battery Bank on Binnegar Plain, 830m north east of Stokeford Farm

Reasons for Designation

The Battery Bank, of which this monument forms a part, is made up of a series of linear earthworks which extend discontinuously over a total distance of about 5.5km. The earthworks are aligned along the plateau dividing the rivers Piddle and Frome. Although not firmly dated, the monument is likely to be of Romano-British or early medieval date; and given the wide gaps in its alignment, demarcation is perhaps a more likely interpretation for the bank than stock control or defence. The name `Battery Bank' is likely to be a misnomer, relating to the Napoleonic period when the bank may have had a role in military training exercises. As a well preserved monument representing early medieval or earlier land division, the Battery Bank is a comparatively unusual survival, and consequently all surviving sections are considered to be of national importance. This section survives well, its location illustrating clearly the topographic setting into which the monument was placed.

Details

The monument includes a section of the linear boundary known as the Battery Bank, situated on Binnegar Plain, a plateau overlooking the Piddle Valley to the north and the Frome Valley to the south. The earthwork forms part of a group of similar monuments which extend (discontinuously) for a distance of 5.5km along the natural ridge separating these valleys. The earthwork includes a linear bank, aligned east-west, composed of earth, sand and turf, with maximum dimensions of 180m in length, 10m in width and about 0.75m in height. The bank has been breached by two tracks and some sections of the bank have been partly reduced. To the north of the bank is a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. To the east and at intermittent points, the ditch is visible as an earthwork 1.5m wide. Elsewhere, the ditch has become infilled, but will survive as a buried feature.

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:

29078

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Battery Bank is of uncertain date, RCHME, National Monuments Record,
Uncertain rel. between 2 ethwk groups, RCHME, National Monuments Record,
Mention forms part of Battery Bank, RCHME, National Monuments Record,
Mention part of group destroyed, RCHME, National Monuments Record,
Comp with Bokerley Dyke/Coombe Ditch, RCHME, National Monuments Record,
Earthworks not certainly linked, RCHME, National Monuments Record,

End of official list entry

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