Monument record MDO45717 - Prehistoric linear dyke, Long Crichel, Tarrant Hinton and Tarrant Launces

A later Prehistoric linear dyke is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs taken in the 1940s but has subsequently been ploughed level. The dyke comprises a linear ditch which is flanked to the north by a linear bank, both of which measure circa 6m wide. The dyke is sinuous and extends in an arc over a total distance of 875m. It is cut in places by paths and trackways across the common and has suffered bomb damage from the surrounding Second World War bombing range (see ST 91 SW 248). The dyke had been levelled by ploughing on aerial photographs taken in 1953, when it is visible as a cropmark. Its eastern end abuts a linear dyke recorded as ST 91 SW 207, which is probably earlier. Similarly, the western end crosses an earlier linear dyke which now forms part of the parish boundary (see ST 91 SW 40). The western third of the dyke extends along the contours, whereas to the east it extends down the northern side of a ridge. The dyke was described by the RCHME as part of Tarrant Launceston 16 (1972; see also ST 91 SW 40 & ST 91 SE 207) and forms part of the semi-circular network of linear dykes on Launceston and Hinton Downs noted in the Bokerley Dyke volume (1990) and recorded as ST 91 SE 206.

A later Prehistoric linear dyke is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs taken in the 1940s but has subsequently been ploughed level. The dyke is centred at ST 9522 1111 and comprises a linear ditch which is flanked to the north by a linear bank, both of which measure circa 6m wide. The dyke is sinuous and extends in an arc over a total distance of 875m, between ST 9485 1119 and ST 9561 1123. It is cut in places by paths and trackways across the common and has suffered bomb damage from the surrounding Second World War bombing range. The dyke had been levelled by ploughing on aerial photographs taken in 1953, when it is visible as a cropmark. Its eastern end abuts a linear dyke recorded as ST 91 SW 207 (UID: 1306448), which is probably earlier. Similarly, the western end crosses an earlier linear dyke which now forms part of the parish boundary at ST 9496 1108 (see ST 91 SW 40 / UID: 210241). The western third of the dyke extends along the contours, whereas to the east it extends down the northern side of a ridge. The dyke was described by the RCHME as part of Tarrant Launceston 16 (1972; see also ST 91 SW 40 / UID: 210241 & ST 91 SE 207) and forms part of the semi-circular network of linear dykes on Launceston and Hinton Downs noted in the Bokerley Dyke volume (1990) and recorded as ST 91 SE 206 (UID: 1306423). <1-4>

Record last edited

Feb 22 2023 7:41PM