Details

The monument, which lies in two areas of protection, includes two earthwork
enclosures known as Highworth circles, located 250m and 325m north of Eastrop
Farm. The enclosures are aligned approximately north-south.
The northernmost enclosure is sub-rectangular in plan with rounded corners,
103m long, 105m wide and includes a ditch, surrounded by an outer bank 11.5m
wide and 0.75m high.
The enclosure to the south is oblong in plan with rounded corners, 72m long
and 56m wide. The ditch is 6m wide, up to 0.5m deep, and is surrounded by a
bank 7.5m wide and 0.5m high.
All fence posts and water troughs are excluded from the scheduling, although
the ground beneath these features 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

Highworth circles are a type of earthwork enclosure found mostly in north east
Wiltshire, with a few outliers north of the Thames in Oxfordshire. Although
they are known as `circles' their form varies from circular or sub-circular,
with diameters of between 40m and 90m, to sub-rectangular. All have a wide
flat bottomed ditch with an external bank. Despite limited fieldwork and
excavation their date remains uncertain. Although sharing characteristics with
henge monuments of Neolithic date, Highworth circles, located almost entirely
within the Hundred of Highworth, may be suggested as being of medieval date,
possibly constructed for stock management. Over 40 examples have been
recorded, many of them reduced by modern cultivation.
All examples exhibiting significant survival of archaeological remains will
normally be identified as nationally important.
The two Highworth circles 250m and 325m north of Eastrop Farm survive
comparatively well and will contain archaeological remains and environmental
evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was
constructed.

Source: Historic England