Details

The monument includes a section of linear earthwork known as Scots Dyke
extending southwards across the north side of the Swale valley. The monument
includes a bank and flanking ditch extending for 150m. The bank is up to 15m
wide with a ditch 7m wide lying to the east. The monument lies across a steep
slope so that in places the bank is over 3m above the ditch. To the east of
the ditch is a small counterscarp bank 3m wide and 0.7m high. To the south the
dyke has been altered by agricultural activity and can no longer be identified
whilst to the north the dyke is cut by a road but continues as an earthwork
160m to the north where it is the subject of a separate scheduling.
All modern fences, gates and walls are excluded from the scheduling although
the ground beneath 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

Scots Dyke is a linear earthwork extending for 14km from the River Swale to
the River Tees in North Yorkshire. Significant sections remain visible as
upstanding earthworks and indicate that the dyke system had an earthen
rampart flanked on the eastern side by a ditch. Elsewhere the dyke often
survives as a low bank beneath present field boundaries. Where not preserved
as an upstanding monument, the dyke is visible as a cropmark on aerial
photographs. It was constructed in the post Roman period and encloses an area
in the eastern foothills of the Pennines between the Swale and Tees. This area
contained wealthy arable and pastoral land as well as some of the mineral
resources of the northern Pennines. Linear earthworks were used to divide
territory for military, social, economic and political purposes, often using
natural features such as rivers and watersheds to define an area. Scots Dyke
was built during the sixth and seventh centuries AD, in response to political
changes brought about, at least in part, by the arrival of the Anglians in
northern England. Fewer than 50 examples of linear earthworks of post Roman
date have been identified in England. As a rare monument type of considerable
importance to the study of early medieval territorial patterns, all surviving
examples are identified as being of national importance. This monument
includes a well preserved section of bank and ditch and significant
archaeological remains will be preserved which offer important evidence for
the study of form and function of the dyke and its relationship with the wider
landscape.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
McDonald, D A, Description and consideration of Scots Dyke, (1984)
Maclaughlan, , 'Archaeological Journal' in Roman Roads Camps and Earthworks in the North Riding, , Vol. VOL 6, (1849)
Other
RCHME, Scots Dyke, (1974)

Source: Historic England