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Cross dyke on Tottington Mount, 550m south east of Tottington Manor Farm

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1016811
Date first listed:: 21-Jan-1999

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1016811
Date first listed:: 21-Jan-1999

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: West Sussex
District:: Horsham (District Authority)
Parish:: Upper Beeding
National Park:: SOUTH DOWNS
National Grid Reference:: TQ 21792 11089

Reasons for Designation

Cross dykes are substantial linear earthworks typically between 0.2km and 1km long and comprising one or more ditches arranged beside and parallel to one or more banks. They generally occur in upland situations, running across ridges and spurs. They are recognised as earthworks or as cropmarks on aerial photographs, or as combinations of both. The evidence of excavation and analogy with associated monuments demonstrates that their construction spans the millennium from the Middle Bronze Age, although they may have been re-used later. Current information favours the view that they were used as territorial boundary markers, probably demarcating land allotment within communities, although they may also have been used as trackways, cattle droveways or defensive earthworks. Cross dykes are one of the few monument types which illustrate how land was divided up in the prehistoric period. They are of considerable importance for any analysis of settlement and land use in the Bronze Age. Very few have survived to the present day and hence all well- preserved examples are considered to be of national importance.

The cross dyke on Tottington Mount survives well, despite some later disturbance, and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the construction and original purpose of the monument.

Details

The monument includes a roughly north east-south west aligned cross dyke constructed across the northern slopes of a chalk spur which projects to the north west from the main ridge of the Sussex Downs. The 74m long earthwork has a ditch up to about 3m wide and 0.3m deep, flanked to the north west by a low bank up to about 4m wide and 0.4m high. The earthworks have been partly disturbed by the long term use of a bridleway, which crosses the monument at its south western end. The earthworks fade out at each end as the ground falls away. The modern fence which crosses the monument is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 31217
Legacy System:: RSM

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.