| Summary : A large, supposed, 3 sided earthwork enclosure, open to the south, and originally consisting of a bank with exterior ditch, enclosing circa 8 hectares. Only a length of the western side survives as earthworks, the remainder having been ploughed flat. Excavations in 1958 included an unsuccessful attempt to locate a presumed fourth side on the south. One cutting on the eastern side identified a small ditch running parallel to the main ditch, which appears to have held a palisade. It was traced north and south from the excavation trench, in the latter case running beyond the southern limit of the enclosure. A cutting through the western side recovered late Neolithic and early Bronze Age pottery from beneath the bank, hinting at an early date for the enclosure. This was subsequently supported by an RCHME suggestion that disc barrow Wilsford 45b (SU 14 SW 478) overlay the enclosure; however, this has subsequently been questioned. An excavation through the western side in 1983 found Beaker sherds on the ground surface beneath the bank, and a quantity of Neolithic and early Bronze Age pottery in the buried soil. This was taken as further evidence of an early Bronze Age date for the construction of the enclosure, and it was suggested that the earthworks formed a focal element in the later Bronze Age linear ditch system on Wilsford Down (see SU 14 SW 127, 128, 129, 502). The enclosure is visible as an earthwork and a cropmark on aerial photographs. Analysis of lidar data suggests a possible slight banked feature running from SU11254030 - SU11404028. It is not clear from the data whether this feature actually joins up with the eastern edge of the Kite enclosure and because it runs parallel to the earthwork bank to the south (SU14SW 707) it may be related to this. Fieldwork in 2012 concluded that the dating is suspect and raised doubts about the interpretation of these linear ditches as an 'enclosure'. |
More information : (SU 11304052) Earthwork (NR). (1)
Salisbury Plain 6" indicates a possible further extension.
(SU 11404039 - SU 11394020 - SU 11044020). "The North Kite".
The northern side has extensions to W. and E. visible on
A.Ps. (2-3)
An emergency excavation by E. Greenfield late in 1958 revealed
pottery of EBA date sealed by the bank on the pre-ground surface.
The earthwork originally consisted of a bank and outer ditch
bounding three sides of the kite-shaped enclosure, though only
about 350 yds. of the west side now remain. A cutting across the
east side showed a small ditch parallel to the main earthwork
ditch which was traced southwards beyond the limits of the site
and northwards for a distance of 450ft. Perhaps EBA. (4)
As Greenfield states only part of the W. side of the "North Kite"
remains. The bank is up to 1.0m. high externally, 0.4m. high
internally (due to soil creep), and the outer ditch is 0.2m.
deep.
The N. and part of the E. side is faintly traceable in
pasture though the extensions noted by Crawford and Greenfield
cannot be traced at present. The North Kite seems to have been a
large pastoral type enclosure of the same period as other
fragmentary ditches both nearby and abutting.
O.S. 1/2500 survey revised. (5)
The North Kite enclosure is situated within a Bronze Age boundary earthwork complex which extends from Longbarrow Cross Roads (SU 096415) to Rox Hill (SU 120386). The western side of the enclosure is formed by part of a NW-SE linear earthwork (SU 13 NW 18) extending NE-SW from SU 11004025. It has been suggested that the west side of the enclosure, with linear earthworks SU 14 SW 127, SU 14 SW 128 and SU 14 SW 502 form a much larger earthwork. (6)
Sample excavations on the enclosure ditch and bank took place as part of the Stonehenge Environs Project (W52) in 1983. The ditch was 2.5m wide and 1.2m deep. The absence of primary fills and the smoothed profile may indicate the ditch being scoured out before it silted up naturally. The bank was 6m wide, 0.7m high with a turf revetment on its ditch edge. A flint core, flakes and beaker pottery were found on the old land surface immediately under the bank. Later Neolithic/Earlier Bronze Age pottery was recovered from the buried soil.
These excavations have confirmed the possible earlier Bronze Age construction date indicated by Greenfield's excavations in 1958 (4). No indication of its potential function is known, although it is certain that the enclosure was constructed within an area already much utilised and formed a focal element of the Later Bronze Age linear ditch systems in the Wilsford Down area. (7)
The enclosure is visible as an earthwork and a cropmark on aerial photographs, and has been mapped by both RCHME's Salisbury Plain Training Area NMP and EH's Stonehenge WHS Mapping Project. Traces of the possible fourth side may be visible on photographs, and have been recorded separately (SU 14 SW 707). (9-11)
Analysis of lidar data suggests a possible slight banked feature running from SU11254030 - SU11404028. It is not clear from the data whether this feature actually joins up with the eastern edge of the KIte enclosure and because it runs parallel to the earthwork bank to the south (SU14SW 707) it may be related to this. (12)
Investigated during the EH Stonehenge WHS Landscape Project: following this fieldwork and recent aerial survey work it now seems likely that the apparent 'enclosure' is a fortuitously surviving group of elements of the linear ditch system on this part of the down. It is suggested that the relative dating of the western earthwork to barrows W45b and W46 suggested by the RCHM (Authority 6) should be reversed. (13)
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