The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Barrister's Plain cross dyke

Dyke

Miscellaneous

English Heritage description:

The monument includes a univallate cross-dyke situated on Barrister's Plain, a narrow saddle between Round Hill to the north-west and Grindle Hill to the south-east. The dyke is visible as a well defined linear bank of earth and stone construction 170m long, averaging 5.5m wide and 0.6m high, with a flanking ditch on its north-west side 3m wide and 0.4m deep. The earthworks are orientated north-east to south-west, cutting across the line of the ridge top at its narrowest point. The bank tails off down the sides of the hill at either end to link the precipitous north and south scarps of the spur; the ditch fades out as the bank ends. The bank is lowered between 19m and 28m from the southern end, possibly the result of slighting at some time in the past. A trackway 4m wide crosses the ditch and cuts through the bank some 66m from the southern end of the dyke. Although this appears modern, it could represent the original position of a passage through the dyke. The structure is clearly not of a defensive nature, being too slight and overlooked from both sides. However, it effectively isolates the eastern tip of the spur, `Grindle Hill', from the main body of the hill to the west and would have functioned as part of a system of land management during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age.
thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
2nd January 2012ce

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