Summary

Part of the linear boundary known as the Wansdyke 330m north of Sulis Manor.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 16 July 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument includes part of a linear boundary (prehistoric) known as the Wansdyke situated on the summit of a wide and prominent ridge overlooking the valley of the Cam Brook. The linear boundary survives differentially as an earthwork in this section with a visible northern ditch and a bank standing up to 1.2m high topped with a public footpath. Geophysical surveys of much of the Wansdyke have shown ditches survive on both sides of the bank but where they are not visible they are preserved as entirely buried features. The linear boundary is known to be prehistoric in origin and was modified during the early medieval period when it was used as a military frontier and boundary work between Wessex and Mercia which was in place by the 9th century. Its name is derived from ‘Woden’s Dyke’ the Anglo-Saxon god who also gave his name to Wednesday. Other sections of the Wansdyke are the subject of separate schedulings.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Linear boundaries are substantial earthwork features comprising single or multiple ditches and banks which may extend over distances varying from less than 1km to over 10km. They survive as earthworks or as linear features visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs or as a combination of both. The evidence of excavation and study of associated monuments demonstrate that their construction spans the millennium from the Middle Bronze Age, although they may have been reused later. The scale of many linear boundaries has been taken to indicate that they were constructed by large social groups and were used to mark important boundaries in the landscape; their impressive scale displaying the corporate prestige of their builders. They would have been powerful symbols, often with religious associations, used to define and order the territorial holdings of those groups who constructed them. Linear earthworks are of considerable importance for the analysis of settlement and land use in the Bronze Age. Despite re-use as a footpath and some modification where it is cut by boundaries the part of the linear boundary known as the Wansdyke 330m north of Sulis Manor survives comparatively well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, longevity, adaptive re-use, military and territorial significance and overall landscape context.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
PastScape 1066087

Source: Historic England