A WALK in VERNDITCH CHASE 1. a Tale of Two Long Barrows
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FOUNDATIONS OF ARCHAEOLOGY ‐ A WALK IN VERNDITCH CHASE 1. A Tale of two Long Barrows ‐ Long barrows were constructed as earthen or drystone mounds with flanking ditches and acted as funerary monuments during the Early and Middle Neolithic periods (3400‐ 2400 BC). They represent the burial places of Britain's early farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments surviving visibly in the present landscape. Where investigated, long barrows appear to have been used for communal burial, often with only parts of the human remains having been selected for interment. Certain sites provide evidence for several phases of funerary monument preceding the barrow and, consequently, it is probable that long barrows acted as important ritual sites for local communities over a considerable period of time. Some 500 long barrows are recorded in England. As one of the few types of Neolithic structure to survive as earthworks, and due to their comparative rarity, their considerable age and their longevity as a monument type, all long barrows are considered to be nationally important. 1 The 180 long barrows of Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset form the densest and one of the most significant concentrations of monuments of this type in the country. Such clusters are of great significance as they give an indication of the intensity with which areas were settled during the Neolithic period. Long barrow south‐west of Vernditch Chase – SAM No 1,012,945 The monument includes a long barrow set below the crest of a gentle south‐ facing slope in an area of undulating chalk downland. The barrow mound is ovoid in plan and orientated SE‐NW. It survives to a length of 36m, is 25m wide and 2m high. It is flanked by ditches, from which mound material was quarried, to the east and west. These survive to a depth of 0.4m and are 7.5m wide on the west side, 5m wide on the east. The bank and ditch constructed to mark the post‐1865 county boundary have partly obscured the outer edge of the NE ditch. The Vernditch Chase example is particularly important as it survives well and is one of several long barrows in the immediate area. Vernditch Chase Long Barrow or Kitt’s Grave – SAM no 1,004,752 This monument includes a long barrow situated on the east facing slopes of Vernditch Chase overlooking the dry valley of Chickengrove Bottom. The long barrow survives as a roughly rectangular mound measuring up to 28m long, 18m wide and 0.9m high with partially buried side ditches of up to 5m wide and 0.4m deep most visible to the north. It is known locally by the alternative name of ‘Kitt’s Grave’. 2 2. Bronze Age Land Divisions Linear boundaries are substantial earthwork features comprising single or multiple ditches and banks which may extend over distances varying between less than 1km to over 10km. They survive as earthworks or as linear features visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs or as a combination of both. The evidence of excavation and study of associated monuments demonstrate that their construction spans the millennium from the Middle Bronze Age, although they may have been re‐used later. The scale of many linear boundaries has been taken to indicate that they were constructed by large social groups and were used to mark important boundaries in the landscape; their impressive scale displaying the corporate prestige of their builders. They would have been powerful symbols, often with religious associations, used to define and order the territorial holdings of those groups who constructed them. Linear earthworks are of considerable importance for the analysis of settlement and land use in the Bronze Age; all well preserved examples will normally merit statutory protection. Two linear earthworks in Vernditch Chase – SAM No 1010763 The monument includes sections of two associated linear earthworks of Bronze Age date in Vernditch Chase, the longer of which forms part of Grim's Ditch, an extensive series of prehistoric boundaries lying mainly east of Bokerley Dyke. The section of Grim's Ditch runs broadly eastward from the Hampshire/Dorset county boundary for c.1.91km, crossing part of the Martin Down National Nature Reserve before entering Vernditch Chase. Two right‐angled corners accommodate a central section running from north to south. The earthwork has been levelled and infilled shortly before the county boundary and to its west, and has been quarried away at the eastern end, north of the Roman road between Sorviodunum (Old Sarum) and Vindocladia (Badbury). The second earthwork runs from the southern corner of Grim's Ditch to the Roman road. SM25608 abuts SM24328 (the Roman road) but for the purposes of clarity these monuments have been defined as separate schedulings. Grim's Ditch crosses slightly undulating, generally south east‐sloping ground; the western end traverses the head of a shallow dry valley. The eastern section of the earthwork runs for c.555m on a gentle south east to west curve before turning sharply to the south. The earthwork is here visible principally as a ditch, which at the eastern end is c.11m wide and up to 1.25m deep. There is little sign of a bank or banks alongside the eastern part of the ditch, but further to the west low banks, up to 0.3m high and 3m wide, give the earthwork an overall width of c.17m. The north to south section is c.430m long, straight except for a slight westward deviation near the southern end. This earthwork has a maximum overall width of c.16m, with banks flanking both sides of the ditch. The western part of the earthwork is c.940m in length. Running slightly south of west for most of its length, the feature turns due west at the western end. The earthwork is at its most substantial shortly after the southern corner, here having an overall width of c.18m. The northern bank rises up to 1.7m above the base of the 8m‐9m wide ditch, but the southern bank is lower, reaching a maximum height of 0.9m. Further west, the feature diminishes slightly to c.16m wide overall, but retains banks at both sides for almost its whole length. The earthwork is levelled and infilled c.8m east of the county boundary and to its west. The second earthwork, c.225m in length, runs from the southern corner of Grim's Ditch south towards the Roman road. Intermittent low banks, c.3m wide and not more than 0.4m high, flank both sides of the ditch which is c.5m wide and has a maximum depth of 0.5m. The earthwork has been disturbed immediately north of the Roman road, but continues to its south as the subject of a separate scheduling. 3 3. The Romans make their mark Roman road along the south side of Vernditch Chase: part of the Roman road between Sorviodunum (Old Sarum) and Vindocladia (Badbury) – SAM No 1,010,763 The monument includes a c.2km stretch of the Roman road from Sorviodunum (Old Sarum) to Vindocladia (Badbury), running south eastwards from south of the Broad Chalke to Martin road, along the southern edge of Vernditch Chase to Bokerley Junction, just north of the A354 road. The course of the Roman road is clearly marked for most of its length by a raised agger, although some areas, such as that north east of Bokerley Junction, have been disturbed, in this case by ploughing. Here the road is discernible in a dry valley only by slight variation in the grass cover. Where visible, the maximum width of the agger is 11m, although in some places it narrows to c.5m; it rises between 0.6m and 2m above the surrounding ground level. Fine gravel metalling has been brought to the surface in mole‐ hills and is also visible under trees where undergrowth is sparse. The side ditches are largely infilled and seldom visible at both sides of the road together. The broadest section of the ditch, south of the road near the western end, is up to 8m wide and 1m deep, although more usually neither ditch is wider than 2m to 3m. Some of the stone making up the western end of the road, near Bokerley Junction, has been dug away for reuse elsewhere and the road survives as upstanding ridges at the sides of an irregular central trough. Almost 100m of the road has been destroyed by more extensive stone‐robbing and possibly by ploughing at the north eastern end, near the Broad Chalke to Martin road. This section is not included in the scheduling. Occasional small quarry holes 4 have been dug elsewhere. The road is crossed in several places by unmetalled forestry and farm tracks which have cut into the agger, exposing the larger flint nodules making up the base of the road. There are no known records of archaeological excavation of the road. Excluded from the scheduling are all gates, barriers, fencing and associated posts, but the ground beneath all these features is included. 4. Vernditch Chase: part of the Medieval Hunting Area of the the Cranborne Chase The valuable rights (both financially and in terms of status) to hunt on the Chase first came into crown hands during the reign of William I and during the Medieval period they passed between the crown and magnates close to the crown before passing back to Edward IV in 1460. The Chase rights remained in Crown hands until the reign of James I when they were granted to Robert, Earl of Salisbury. By this time the Chase rights could only be effectively exercised over the inner bounds and in 1671 the valuable rights to hunt in Vernditch were sold to the Earl of Shaftesbury.