Details

The monument includes two intersecting sections of post-medieval boundaries,
which are situated on the central plateau of the Tabular Hills.
The first boundary section runs approximately north to south for 185m, between
two tracks which truncate either end. It survives as a rounded bank of earth
and stone, 3.5m wide and standing up to 0.4m high, which has a shallow ditch
on its west side. Originally the ditch was up to 3.5m wide and 0.7m deep, but
it has become partly filled in by the construction of the track running along
its western edge so that now it is no more than 1m wide and between 0.2m and
0.5m deep. The linear boundary to which this length belongs runs from Dixon's
Hollow in the north to the converging heads of Sand Dale and Heck Dale in the
south and is used to mark the modern division between the parishes of
Allerston and Thornton Dale.
The second section is part of the boundary known as Red Dike. It has a
straight course which runs west for 530m from the western edge of an unplanted
avenue, to the west of Jingleby Tower. It survives as a rounded bank of earth
and stone, 3.5m wide and standing up to 0.5m high, which has a shallow ditch
on its south side, up to 2m wide and 0.5m deep. At its western end the ditch
terminates after cutting through the bank of the first section of boundary.
The Red Dike originally continued to the east of Jingleby Tower as far as the
modern division between the parishes of Allerston and Ebberston and Yedingham,
but this part has largely been destroyed by forestry operations.
These boundary segments form a sample of the network of post-medieval
boundaries which were constructed from the 17th century onwards, to enclose
the wastes in the township of Allerston. They lie in an area which has a
history of land division which dates from the prehistoric period.

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

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

These boundary sections are a well-preserved and documented example of early
post-medieval enclosure on the Tabular Hills. They illustrate the process of
physical division between parishes of formerly common uplands, which took
place in the late medieval and early post-medieval periods. The boundary
sections provide a sample of a more extensive network of post-medieval
boundaries within the parish of Allerston. The continued use of many of these
boundaries during the post-medieval period demonstrates their importance in
the landscape. The stratigraphic relationship between these two boundary
lengths will preserve important evidence which will date their sequence of
construction. This network of post-medieval boundaries is superimposed upon a
pattern of land division dating from the prehistoric period. The spatial
relationships and differences in form between the boundaries of these two
periods demonstrate the changing character of landscape division over time.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Northern Archaeological Associates, , North York Moors Forest Survey Phase Two, (1996)
Spratt, D A, Linear Earthworks of the Tabular Hills: North East Yorkshire, (1989), 36
Spratt, D A, Linear Earthworks of the Tabular Hills: North East Yorkshire, (1989), 39
Winchester, A J L, The Harvest of the Hills, (2000), 26-51
Other
Survey database site 11\158, orthern Archaeological Associates, North York Moors Forest Survey Phase Two, (1996)

Source: Historic England