Red Hill Cross Ridge Dyke

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.

The monument comprises a linear bank and ditch running across an upland ridge. The tradition of cross ridge dyke building appears to roughly span a millennium, beginning in the middle Bronze Age and lasting throughout the Iron Age (although perhaps with reuse and perhaps limited construction in the medieval period). They have been interpreted as territorial boundaries, defining areas of political influence (including internal territorial boundaries and land allotment within communities) and perhaps have ritual associations. The Red Hill dyke is a prominent example of a cross-ridge dyke intended to act as a barrier to movement along the Red Hill ridgeway. The bank is 4.5m wide and c. 110m long. A shallow ditch 2.5m wide lies on its eastern side facing Red Hill.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric land division and perhaps ritual practices. The monument is an important relic of a prehistoric landscape and retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of environmental and structural evidence.

The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is a rectangle and measures 150m x 30m.