Monument record MDO3573 - Dyke on Little Down, Blandford St Mary

Earthwork dyke set on an E.-facing slope: aligned west to east for over 300 yards across the south part of Little Down. The western portion (in Winterborne Clenston) has been destroyed by cultivation; to the east it survives as a ditch 15 feet wide and 1½ feet deep. There are no traces of a bank. The ditch is visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs taken in 1970 and were digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM.

The later prehistoric linear dyke is visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs taken in 1970 <4> and was digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM. It runs east-west for over 275m to the west of Little Wood, Blanford St Mary.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1968 (Map). SWX1540.

(ST 85590354) Dyke

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 1, 45 (Monograph). SDO146.

(28) Dyke (85390353-85690358) runs roughly W.-E. for over 300 yds. across the S. part of Little Down on an E.-facing slope. The W. portion, in Winterborne Clenston, has been destroyed by cultivation; to the E. it survives as a ditch 15 ft. across and 1½ ft. deep; there are no traces of a bank. The dyke appears to be associated with 'Celtic' fields and is possibly related to the settlement (26) which lies 400 yds. to the N.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 205621 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<4> Royal Air Force, 18-FEB-1970, RAF/58/024 V1 154 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19522.

Record last edited

Oct 13 2023 1:23PM