Details

The monument includes a cross dyke constructed across a chalk spur which
projects to the north east from a ridge of the Sussex Downs. The roughly north
west-south east aligned, gently curving cross dyke survives as a c.125m long
ditch measuring c.8m wide and c.0.5m deep, flanked to the north east by a bank
up to c.0.5m wide and c.0.5m deep. Towards the centre, a short section of the
dyke has been partly disturbed and levelled by long-term use of a downland
track. To the north west, the earthworks gradually fade out as the ground
falls away. The south eastern end has been destroyed by later, post-medieval
chalk quarrying, and this area is therefore not included in the scheduling.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

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 cross dyke on Chantry Hill survives well, despite some later disturbance,
and will contain important archaeological and environmental evidence relating
to the construction and use of the monument. The cross dyke is one of a group
of broadly contemporary monuments situated along the ridge, providing
important evidence for the relationship between burial practices, settlement
and land division in this area of downland during the later prehistoric
period.

Source: Historic England