More information : (Centered SY 899871) Earthworks (NR)
Earthworks on Worgret Heath consist of sections of irregular
orientation, comprising either three banks with ditches or two
banks with a central ditch. Much of the earthworks have been
destroyed by gravel workings, and the remains are overgrown with
bracken or heather. Probably defensive in purpose, but no surface
finds were made during field investigation to establish their
age. For detailed topographical report see 1:2500 plan.
SY 89638705 - SY 91218745. Linear Dykes on Worgret Heath and
Wareham Common lie about 750 yds south east of Battery Bank
(SY 88 NE 8), but there appears to be no necessary connection
between these two sets of earthworks.
The earthworks on Worgret Heath are of different forms but their
siting is nowhere tactical and they appear to be boundaries
forming barriers to movement, possibly of cattle, rather than
defence. The line of earthworks shown on OS maps (SY 89708717 to
SY 89908717) appears to be the result of gravel digging. Dating
is uncertain but the nearest possible analogy for the variably
multiple form of the earthworks is on the chalkland of Cranborne
Chase where the dykes are possibly Romano-British.
(a) - see plan, consists of two banks, some 1 1/2ft high on either
side of a narrow-bottomed ditch 4ft deep; the overall width is
45ft. It runs north east for about 1000 yds from a re-entrant
gully and is now broken by two wide gaps. There are faint traces
at the north east end of a link with the present Arne-Wareham
parish boundary which continues the alignment for 4/5 mile. Near
the south west end, on a plateau, discontinuous banks about 1ft
high, double on the east spring from the south side and might
have formed a trapezoidal enclosure (X), measuring some 120 ft
(east) by 225ft (north).
(b) is of varied form: for the first 200 yds triple banks contain
two ditches, the whole being 62ft wide, but after being cut by
(d), there are first two ditches, then one ditch between two
banks and finally three banks and two ditches, 50 ft overall. It
runs north east and then north for about 400 yds from the modern
road near a gap in (a) to a scarp 10 ft high falling to the flood
plain of the River Piddle.
(c) - see SY 98 NW 6
(d) is a bank 3ft high with a ditch and counterscarp bank on the
north, about 30ft wide overall, and cuts (b) at right angles. It
projects only a few feet to the north west but traces exist to the
south east for about 100 yds.
SY 900872. Earthworks on Worgret Heath and Wareham Common.
Scheduled.
The only surviving parts of these earthworks are as follows:-
SY 89638704- SY 89758707. A ditch with a bank on either wide, 120
metres long and 16.0 metres wide overall. Obscured by dense
undergrowth; it is straight and not curving as formerly depicted
on OS 25".
SY 89708717 - SY 89838717. A scarp 120 metres long and up to 1.0
metres high, now incorporated in a landscaped garden.
SY 89798715 - SY 89848715 and SY 89848716 - SY 89878716. Two
single banks now in dense woodland, which were formerly part of
the south and north banks of the earthwork respectively.
SY 90128725 - SY 90188733. Two ditches with a central bank, 100
metres in length.
All these extant portions are as described on OS 495. 1:2500
plans by Auth. 2. have been revised at 1:2500 on M.S.D.'s.
The R.C.H.M. cast doubt upon the authenticity of the earthworks
shown on the OS. 25" 1936, at SY 87808717. It is unlikely that
they were gravel workings (see 1952 plan) although they had been
virtually destroyed by gravel digging before the time of their
investigation. (5)
Scheduled. (6)
The double ditch with bank between at SY89148728, between `F' and `J' on the 1952 plan, is now partly levelled. See sketch survey at 1:1250. (7) |