Reasons for Designation
Cross dykes are substantial linear earthworks typically between 0.2km and 1km
long and comprising one or more ditches arranged beside and parallel to one or
more banks. They generally occur in upland situations, running across ridges
and spurs. They are recognised as earthworks or as cropmarks on aerial
photographs, or as combinations of both. The evidence of excavation and
analogy with associated monuments demonstrates that their construction spans
the millennium from the Middle Bronze Age, although they may have been re-used
later. Current information favours the view that they were used as territorial
boundary markers, probably demarcating land allotment within communities,
although they may also have been used as trackways, cattle droveways or
defensive earthworks. Cross dykes are one of the few monument types which
illustrate how land was divided up in the prehistoric period. They are of
considerable importance for any analysis of settlement and land use in the
Bronze Age. Very few have survived to the present day and hence all well-
preserved examples are considered to be of national importance.
Details
The monument includes the south western part of a cross dyke constructed
across a chalk spur which projects to the south east from a hill which forms
part of the Sussex Downs. The monument is one of a pair of cross dykes on
Steep Down; the other is situated around 700m to the north and is the subject
of a separate scheduling.
The roughly south west-north east aligned, gently curving cross dyke survives
as an approximately 346m long ditch up to about 6m wide and 1m deep, flanked
to the south east by a bank up to about 5m wide and 0.7m high. Towards the
north eastern end of the monument, a short section of the earthworks has been
disturbed by a track which crosses the dyke at an angle, and the south eastern
edge of the earthwork has been disturbed by past modern ploughing.
The cross dyke continues across the spur to the north east, but this section
has been heavily disturbed by past modern landfill operations and is therefore
not included in the scheduling.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
31214
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals
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 Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
