Monument record MDO7708 - Probable late prehistoric battery bank, Stokeford Heath, East Stoke

A linear bank and accompanying ditch are visible on aerial photographs and Lidar imagery of Stokeford Heath, East Stoke. It is considered probable this could be the remains of a Late Prehistoric defensive battery bank or dyke. Gravel quarrying and military activities in this area have destroyed parts of the earthwork, which now survives as two individual sections of varying lengths. This earthwork forms part of a group of similar monuments (MDO7706-10) which extend discontinuously for a distance of approximately 5.5km along a natural ridge between Stoke Heath and Jubilee Plantation.

Battery bank consists of a bank with a ditch on the outer side, the course of which is irregular. The bank is composed of earth and small flints and the ditch in preserved sections appears to be wide but shallow. Gravel workings have erased much of the earthwork and threaten further sections. <1> Section 'C' (see individual records for the other surviving sections) - SY 86548831 to SY 86758825. A curving bank 6 metres wide with a ditch visible in places on the north side. Its length is 220 metres, and it fades out in a marshy area at the south east end. Resurveyed at 1:2500 on M.S.D. <3> A linear bank and accompanying ditch are visible on aerial photographs <4> and Lidar imagery <5> of Stokeford Heath, East Stoke. It is considered probable this could be the remains of a Late Prehistoric defensive battery bank or dyke. Gravel quarrying and military activities in this area have destroyed parts of the earthwork, which now survives as two individual sections of varying lengths. Total length of this feature is approximately 237m. This earthwork forms part of a group of similar monuments (MDO7706-10) which extend discontinuously for a distance of approximately 5.5km along a natural ridge between Stoke Heath (NGR 84432 89408) and Jubilee Plantation (NGR 88940 87469). This feature was plotted during the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project. It is still visible as an earthwork on the most recent comprehensive aerial imagery available to the project.

Record last edited

Feb 5 2024 3:49PM