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, in two separate areas, a cross dyke, known as Tennerley
Ditch, extending north west-south east across a ridge, 480m and 690m NNW of
Fontmell Hill House. It is one of five similar monuments at the end of the
escarpment, the remainder of which are the subject of separate schedulings.
The earthworks are located to the east and the west of the Shaftesbury to
Blandford Road. In his book `The ancient earthworks of Cranborne Chase',
published in 1913, Heywood Sumner notes that Thomas Aldwell suggested in 1618
that this earthwork was reused to mark the inner boundary of The Chase at this
point.
The eastern section of the cross dyke extends for about 320m from the brow of
the ridge down an eastward facing slope, and has a bank up to 6m wide and 0.7m
high with a ditch on its northern side, 2.5m wide and 0.5m deep. It has been
truncated in places by woodland tracks and banks. The western section,
extending for approximately 190m from the brow of the hill and fading out on a
steep slope, has a bank, up to 8m wide and 1m high, with a ditch on the
northern side, up to 3.5m wide and 1m high, and has been truncated by a track.
It is not clear if the cross dyke originally extended fully across the ridge
between the two sections of surviving earthwork as this area has been partly
disturbed by the main road. Limited excavation in 1995 by the side of the
road, on the extrapolated line of the cross dyke, showed no evidence for its
presence in this area, perhaps suggesting an original gap. Due to later
disturbance and the uncertainty about the existence of a buried earthwork in
this area, the central section has not been included in the scheduling.
All fence and gate posts are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground
beneath these features is included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
31068
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
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
