Monument record MDO97 - Cross dyke on Haydon Down, Askerswell

A dyke on Haydon Down, 1.25 miles ENE of the church at Askerswell, consists of a bank with a ditch on the N side. It extends for 300 yds across the ridge into Litton Cheney parish and may have some connection with the dyke in that parish [for which see SY 59 SE 6], and the other cross-dyke to the NW (SY 59 SW 32). <1>

[SY 54669347 to SY 55059341]. This earthwork consists of an E-W bank and ditch as described in Authy 1. The bank averages 3.0m wide and 0.4m high, the ditch 3.0m wide and 0.3m deep. Part of the earthwork is shown on the OS 6", and it seems that the whole is merely a field boundary. (Another exactly similar work is situated 270.0m to the north but not noted by Authy 1).

There is no positive evidence by which this bank and ditch can be dated, but it does not conform to the banks of the poorly defined Iron Age/Romano British system, and may perhaps be of post-medieval date. Visible on AP. <2>

Cross Ridge Dykes were recorded as individual monuments in Authy 1 butrecent work by the Royal Commission's investigators suggest that dykes such as this should be treated as a group, in this case centred around Compton Abbas (now West Compton) (see also SY 59 SW 24, 30, 32 and SY 59 SE 6). Their arcuate disposition suggests that they were boundaries, possibly of territorial significance. Celtic field fragments (SY 59 SW 21) lie on either side of the dyke, the field sides roughly aligned with it. <3>

SY 547936. Dyke on Haydon Down. Scheduled. <4>

The linear bank is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. <5>

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 15 (Monograph). SDO97.

‘(14) DYKE on Haydon Down, 1¼ m. E.N.E. of the church and extending into Litton Cheney parish, consists of a bank with a ditch on the N. side. It extends for about 300 yards across the top of the ridge and may have some connection with (13) above and a dyke in Litton Cheney parish.’

<2> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 26-MAY-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<2.1> Royal Air Force, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 4152 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20072.

<3> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Unpublished revision RCHME Dorset I (West) Undated (West Compton file) (Unpublished document). SDO19799.

<4> Department of the Environment, 1978, Department of the Environment (IAM) Ancient Monuments of England (Vol 2) (Monograph). SWX1687.

<5> Royal Air Force, 22-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 4153-4 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11409.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 451436 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 21 2023 4:40PM