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Summary

North-south linear feature noted during construction of the Newbury Bypass, interpreted as a boundary bank and ditch

Monument Type(s):

• BANK (EARTHWORK) (18th century - 1751 AD? to 1800 AD?)

Full Description

A small ditch and bank earthwork was noted during the construction of the A34 Newbury Bypass <1> although not until much of its length within the road corridor had been severely disturbed by tree felling. It ran approximately north-south along the steep eastern side of a dry valley and could be traced for c300m to the north and c1100m to the south. A single machine trench was excavated across the feature, showing a broad shallow ditch c2.5m wide and 0.4m deep, and a low bank c2.8m wide and 0.4m high on the western down slope side. No datable material was recovered from the fill of the ditch or the bank, although 20th century material was noted in the uppermost fills of the ditch.

A limited desk-based study of documents at the County Records Office was carried out, although it is not clear what relevant information was found. The current OS 1:10,000 map <2> showed the line of the earthwork as a continuous boundary, and the southern end of this boundary also appeared on the Speen Manor map <3>, although not apparently as a continuous feature. The report therefore concluded that the bank and ditch were used as property or field boundaries, and post-dated the 1730 survey although not by many years, as mature trees were growing on the earthwork.

The GIS line has been drawn using Figure 28 in the report <1>; this does not represent the full length of the boundary however. The NGR given in the report for the earthwork is SU46307010.

It is interesting that close to this location this feature would apparently have crossed the east-west ditch mapped by Money, and interpreted by him as Civil War Siegeworks <4>. Since the construction of the bypass, the HER officer has observed surviving earthworks in the wooded area of Hill's Pightle. It has also been suggested that a deer park might lie in the area (either Shaw or more likely Donnington) <5>.

Sources and further reading

Related Monuments

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

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