Details

The monument includes a section of linear earthwork to the north west of the
junction of the A171 and the road leading to Fylingthorpe. It is presently in
two parts and the relationship of each part to the other is not clear.
The first element is a double ditch with triple banks appearing at 25m from
the road and heading north west for 35m. After a 4m break where the earthwork
has been removed by a road drain, it continues as a single ditch with flanking
ditches for a further 65m giving an overall length to the monument of 100m. A
field boundary bank of later construction impinges on the north east side of
the monument, 26m from the northern end.
The section comprising a double ditch with triple banks is 40m wide. Each
ditch is 7m wide and 1.25m deep on average. The banks are each 7m wide at the
base and c.0.4m high. The section of single ditch with flanking banks is 17m
wide. The ditch here is 6m wide and c.1.3m deep and the banks are 7m wide at
the base and c.0.5m high.
The field boundary is not included in the monument 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.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

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 linear earthwork to the north west of the road junction survives well in
spite of having been cut by a drain and a field boundary. Since it is across
the line of the ancient trackway known as the Robin Hoods Bay road it must be
considered together with the linear earthwork on the south side of the road as
a territorial marker or a defensive work in the Bronze Age or Early Iron Age.

Source: Historic England