Monument record MDO720 - Settlement on Dickley Hill, Cerne Abbas

Settlement, defended to the east by a scarp, ditch and outer bank extending for over 200 yards, with an entrance towards the south end. About 150 yards to the west is another smaller bank nearly parallel to that described above, but only extending for half the distance. Between the two is what may be the remains of an oval enclosure with sub-divisions, but only the north half has survived.

The settlement, comprising four elements, is centred at ST 6565 0027 and has been under pasture for a number of years. It is bounded on the E by a bank 6.0m wide and 0.5m high with a ditch on the inner, settlement, side 5.0m wide and 0.8m deep. It crosses flat ground in a N to S direction for 200m and although its former northern termination cannot be deduced, an AP(a) shows soilmarks in ploughland to the S indicating a 'dog-leg' conforming to and merging with the boundaries of a former field system. An entrance gap at ST 6572 0023 is splayed inwards to the settlement and outwards to the associated fields. These factors, with the inherent weakness and non-strategic situation of the work, suggest that it is not defensive but simply a track or fieldway. The two house platforms, at ST 6561 0022 and ST 6565 0030, are each 9.0m internal diameter, slightly sunken and enclosed by a bank 4.0m wide overall, 0.2m high internally and 0.1m high externally. In both the entrance is in the SE. When visited in 1955 by OS Field Investigator the whole area was ploughed and sherds of pottery were found in both house sites but none of significance elsewhere. At ST 65630026 is the remains of the 'enclosure' which now appears as two separate depressions about 11.0m in diameter and 0.3m deep, each joined and enclosed by a bank 5.0m wide and 0.3m high. The circular form of the depressions may have resulted from past ploughing; it is unlikely that they are house sites. The final component of the settlement a 70.0mm length of bank and ditch at ST 65580024 can still be detected on the ground as a slight rise but is no longer a surveyable feature. Pits in the area appear to be natural sinkings. In 1955 the field system covered some 40 hectares on ST 60 SE and a similar amount to the S (on SY 69 NE) (b) ©. On ST 60 SE this has been reduced to 10 hectares on the E slope of Dickley Hill, centred at ST 6605 0025. Here the system is well preserved with squarish fields of about 60m side (0.36 ha), formed by banks up to 6.0m wide and 0.7m high with lynchets 8.0m wide and 2.0m high. (3,a,b,c) The published survey of the settlement revised at 1:2500 on PFD. Additional material including correspondence, photographs and tracings from aerial photograph. (4) NRHE

Record last edited

Nov 18 2022 2:16PM