Monument record MDO1541 - Iron Age univallate enclosure at The Bend, Long Bredy

An irregular oval enclosure in the form of a bank and ditch encircling around 12 acres on a prominence on the ridgeway, and interpreted as a possible hillfort. This monument was first observed on aerial photographs, and is very reduced by ploughing, with only small sections surviving as discernible earthworks. In 1964 small-scale excavations revealed that the ditch was at least 20 feet wide and 8 feet deep. Relatively limited dating evidence was recovered, but the excavator was confident that the form of the feature indicated an Iron Age date. Oval enclosure is visible as cropmarks and low earthworks on aerial photographs, it lies on the top of Eggardon ridge and is probably Iron Age in date.

An Iron Age univallate enclosure on the Eggardon ridgeway, about 12 acres in internal area, crossed by the Axminster to Dorchester Roman road. Two parts of the bank and ditch survive, about 70 ft across but very spread, but most of the remainder has been levelled by ploughing. A few Iron Age sherds were found in plough soil. A small section of the ditch in 1964 recovered no datable finds and only one side of the ditch was discovered. The monument was probably not a hillfort as such.Celtic fields cover the down, but it is not possible on superficial examination to determine their relationship with the enclosure. Romano British pottery covering an area 60ft in diameter was noted in ploughsoil on the east side of the enclosure. RCHME note a D-shaped enclosure, open on the west side, north east of the enclosure and Radley mentions an earthwork fragment of another enclosure west of the main enclosure and north of the road.

A collection of Roman pottery and smelting wastes was found in two ditches immediately to the east of the enclosure. <1-3>

A large sub-oval enclosure is visible as cropmarks and low earthworks on aerial photographs, it lies on the top of Eggardon ridge and is probably Iron Age in date. The enclosure is 355m by 215m in size and is cut by the Axminster-Dorchester Roman Road. <4-6>

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1963, Monuments Threatened or Destroyed. A Select List: 1956-1962, 14 (Monograph). SDO12558.

<2> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1966, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1965, 81-83 (Serial). SDO65.

‘AN IRON AGE ENCLOSURE IN LONG BREDY, DORSET
Investigation in West Dorset by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments has revealed several new monuments on the ridgeway leading to Eggardon hillfort. Amongst these are two enclosures of probable Iron Age date, one of which is reasonably complete and the other a fragment. The complete enclosure was first noticed by Mr. W. J. Davies on aerial photographs, and it was subsequently shown to the Prehistoric Society on its visit to Dorset in 1958.
The enclosure (Fig. 1, plan) covers 12 acres and sits astride a large swell in the ridgeway at 700ft. O.D. (SY 574935) which is covered by “Clay with Pebbles” over Chalk. Previous treatment of the ridgeway has led to the survival of two pieces of the bank and ditch and the almost total destruction of much of the rest of the enclosure. ‘Celtic’ fields covered the downland but it is not possible superficially to determine their relationship to the enclosure. Nearby there was a “spectacles” complex [Footnote: 1. Cf. L. V. Grinsell, Archaeology of Wessex, p. 139] and a large circular enclosure. There is a trapezoidal enclosure and a large settlement of the Romano-British period within half a mile of this site. The Roman road, or romanized native road, followed by the modern road, cuts through the northern part of the enclosure, and this line subsequently became the parish boundary. The small northern portion of the enclosure, in Compton Valence parish, was not ploughed until recently, even though there are two small deserted farmsteads in the vicinity with well developed strip lynchets on the steep valley side. To the south, much of the enclosure came within the Long Bredy manorial fields, only the western tip escaping the plough. Since 1940 the whole area has been ploughed, but it is only on the northern portion and at the western tip that the earthwork can be clearly seen. Only very favourable aerial photographs reveal the whole perimeter, and some of the banks and scarps on the ground are related to field banks and not to the enclosure. West of the enclosure and north of the road a fragment of earthwork survives of another enclosure of unknown dimensions.
Beginning on the road at the western side and moving clockwise around the enclosure the northern segment is clearly visible from the road as a broad bank and ditch with a discontinuous counterscarp bank, now spread over a width of 75ft. The single entrance is simple and causewayed, and leads to a depression 40ft. across which may or may not be a related feature. Inside the entrance, five Iron Age sherds were found in the ploughing. A dew-pond has been cut in the ditch, and on its eastern side Romano-British pottery, covering and area 60 ft. in diameter, was discovered in the ploughing (see note below). This site occupies a small flat above a small declivity which is used by the road. At this point the scarp of the enclosure bank appears as a rise in the road. South of the road almost half of the enclosure’s perimeter has been largely removed but as the bank turns N.W. the irregular line of the ploughed-down scarp becomes increasingly apparent until the well preserved western end is reached. The rather sharp turn of the western end suggests that it enclosed or avoided a feature of some size.

<3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1992, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1991, 173 (Serial). SDO91.

<4> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 4148-49 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11085.

<5> 14-APR-1984, NMR OS/84029 177-9 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11084.

<6> 02-APR-1969, NMR OS/69053 033-4 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11082.

<7> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/088 RCHME Inventory: Dorset I (West) and Revision (Unpublished document). SDO17367.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 884768 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 25 2024 8:13PM