Marks seen from the air near Dorchester, Oxon

For some years past observation has been made and photographs taken from the air of the marks which appear in the crops near Dorchester and it is now possible to give a fairly complete survey of them.
These marks, the appearance of which is dependent on the suitability of the crop and weather conditions. appear generally as lines, rings or dots of a darker green in the crops and are due to ancient disturbance of the subsoil. If at some time a ditch or pit penetrating the subsoil has been dug in a field and later has been levelled, the filling will be of a different nature to the soil it replaces and have a beneficial effect on that part of the crop which grows directly over it. By means of these marks the position of buried works can he located. Attention was first drawn to crop marks near Dorchester by the discovery by two officers of the Royal Air Force of the great rings to the north of the village. At the same time marks were seen on and near the Minchin Recreation Ground and on Bishop's Court Farm.
Since 1933 I have watched this area in all seasons of the year and have taken many photographs of it from the air. From year to year as crop conditions changed more marks have been visible in the same field as the great rings. Several small circles lie at the northern end of this field, three of them with interrupted ditches, apparently similar to those discovered in then Neolithic settlement at Abingdon. Near the Dorchester-Abingdon Road there is a small square enclosure which apparently contained a round barrow, and there is a slight mound on the ground at this spot. A similar square enclosure on Limlow Hill, Litlington. Cambs., contained a round barrow. Other circles, apparently showing the ditches of levelled round harrows lie near the great rings, one inside their annulus, and two small square enclosures lie a little farther to the south. The great rings themselves are not truly circular and each has two entrances, one towards the north and one towards the south. The purpose of the nearly straight parallel lines which pass to the east of the great rings is as yet unexplained. Several other similar pairs of lines, some forming square ended enclosures, have been found within a few miles of Dorchester.
These lines are continuous so far as it has been possible to trace them, with the exception of a small break towards the northern end of the field and a wider break farther south. This latter gap is partly filled by a double circle.
The rectangular enclosure at Benson has a similar break, and the same type of enclosure at Sutton Courtenay has one of the lines crossing a circle, but no break appears in the lines.
In the other examples these enclosures have been seen to have square ends to the parallel lines, but at Dorchester it has not been possible to trace their extremities. Their extension to the North West is covered by a grass field and as grass does not readily produce crop-marks no signs of them can be seen in that direction. In a south-easterly direction they extend into a field near Queensford mill and appear to end there, but a rather mixed collection of other lines occurs and confuses the issue. It may be found possible to trace them further in this direction. If they did so extend they would lead to a point on the Thame from which another pair of parallel lines leads towards a large enclosure near Warborough. The junction of this second pair with the enclosure was obscured by ploughing when this photograph was taken, and only a portion of one side of the enclosure appears in the lower right hand corner of the photograph.
The lines are truly straight and parallel but more closely spaced than those associated with the great rings. Although they lead direct to the enclosure and have been traced no farther, there is no break in the enclosure at the point of contact. There is, however, an entrance to the enclosure towards its south-east corner.
The double circle within the enclosure is apparently the site of a round barrow which has been almost entirely levelled. Its outer ring is approximately 100 ft. in diameter and l0 ft. wide. Westwards of this can be seen a triple circle with a wide outer ring within which there is a broken ring of dots, then a smaller continuous circle and centrally a dot. This does not seem to show the site of any of the common types of round barrow and, whilst it may be rash to anticipate the results to be obtained from excavation, one may make the suggestion that these marks may show the site of a timber circle.
Leading from it towards the Thame is a right-angled line, probably evidence of a ditch which drained the outer circular ditch. Close by there is an elongated D-shaped enclosure which has a marked resemblance to another found in Allen's gravel-pit to the north of Dorchester, in the ditches of which were found quantities of Iron Age pottery.
The circle to the south of the `timber circle' is probably that of a round barrow and the disturbed area in which it lies may show the activities of gravel-diggers in fairly recent times. Other cases have been noted at Radley and Langford near Lechlade, where the digging of gravel has ceased when the ditch of a barrow has been encountered. The diggers finding the increased depth of topsoil and being unaware that this extra depth of overburden is only of narrow extent, cease digging in that direction and thus the remains of barrows are saved from destruction. Another small square, similar to those near the great rings, lies near the parallel lines. The area between the Dyke Hills and the Thames is a mass of marks. There are several bold enclosures with fairly straight sides, other less well-defined straight-sided enclosures, many circles both continuous and with gaps, and a multitude of dots. These marks seem to be characteristic of an lron Age settlement of considerable extent and density of population, but from the way in which the marks are intermixed they would seem to indicate works extending over a considerable period of time. Apart from two small circles near the Thame and a single squarish enclosure to the south-west of Dorchester one other site remains, the large rectangular enclosure, with a small rectangle within it, which lies close to a bend of the Thame. This would seem to be of later date than the other marks since a stone coffin was found thereabouts.
Thus far can air-photography carry us; further photographs in future years may help to clear up, or increase, the problems already presented, but the ultimate solution rests with those on the ground. There can be few areas which present such a wealth of early remains of a variety to suit the tastes of archaeologists no matter what period they may favour.

Col. A. L. Fox — On the Threatened Destruction of the British Earthworks near Dorchester, Oxfordshire.
Special Meeting, June 21st, 1870.
[Held in the Theatre of the Royal United Service Institution, Whitehall Yard, by the permission of the Council of the Institution.] Professor Huxley, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.
The following paper was read by the author;—
XXXVII. On the threatened destruction of the British Earthworks near Dorchester, Oxfordshire. By Col. A. Lane Fox, Hon. Sec. Ethn. Soc.

Although the subject is not in any way connected with the paper that is to be read this evening (Mr. Forbes’s paper on the Aymaras), yet, knowing the interest which is taken by this Society in the preservation of our prehistoric antiquities, I venture to think that a few words in reference to the Dykes at Dorchester in Oxfordshire may not be without interest to the Meeting, owing to the report which has appeared in the papers since our last meeting, relative to the threatened destruction of these works by the owner of the property on which they stand. The ancient fortifications of this place consist of two distinct works—one on the south and the other on the north bank of the Thames. The former (on the south side) occupies the more eastern of two conspicuous hills, each of which is topped by a clump of trees, known as the Wittenham Clumps. This work is about a quarter of a mile to the south of the river-bank, and three miles to the north-east of Didcot Station on the Great Western Railway. The entrenchment, like that of most British camps, follows the outline of the hill, running round it in the most suitable position for defence. It commands an extensive view of the country for miles round; but the interior of the camp is itself commanded within 150 yards by the adjoining hill to the north-west. It is of an irregular oval form, about 400 paces across from S.E. to N.W. The defences consist of a ditch, about five paces wide at the outer in consequence of the natural slope of the hill. The inner rampart, if it ever existed, has been destroyed by cultivation; but it is not improbable, from the great command which the inner side of the ditch has over the opposite side, that the defence may originally have been confined to an escarpment surmounted by a stockade or some other defensive obstacle on that side. This mode of defence appears not infrequently to have been adopted by the ancient Britons in cases where the ground itself afforded the necessary command of the exterior. There is an entrance on the north-west salient angle which is swept by a knoll on the inner side of the ditch. Another entrance on the north-west leads in the direction of the ancient ford on the Isis. All these are characteristics of a British earthwork. The interior of the camp is terraced on the north side; but these terraces are evidently the result of cultivation in modern times. I found no sufficient evidence of the fabrication of flints in this work; but I picked up in the interior a fragment of a polished celt and a sea-shore quartzite pebble rubbed to an edge at one end. Pebbles similarly rubbed at one end are not uncommon amongst the relics of the prehistoric age. I exhibit a precisely similar implement which I found amongst the debris of a barrow on the Yorkshire Wolds.
Passing over the Thames, to the north side, we come to the Dykes, the threatened destruction of which is reported in the newspapers. They consist of a nearly straight line of entrenchments, about 900 yards in length, and composed of double banks and ditches, which cuts off a promontory formed by the bend of the river, and encloses an area of about three-quarters of a mile in length by a quarter of a mile in breadth. The principal ditch, about 57 feet in width, is situated between the two banks. There is a smaller ditch on the outer or north side. The outer or northern bank appears to have been the highest, which is probably to he accounted for by its being placed between the two ditches, and having received the materials excavated from both. This was well shown in the section of a fresh cutting made through the bank, in which the lines of the successive deposits could be traced. This section also showed that the banks are covered with a thickness of from 8 to 12 inches of vegetable soil, entirely devoid of stones or pebbles of any kind, and which must, in all probability, have accumulated from the decay of the grass on the banks. The length of time necessary for the formation of so great a thickness of vegetable soil must have been considerable. There are at present three openings through the dykes. About 200 yards of the right flank of the dyke is thrown back in the direction of the junction of the Thame stream with the Isis. From this point the river assumes the name of the Thames River. On carefully searching the ground which had been excavated from the banks on the left flank, and the cultivated ground in the interior of the camp, I found abundant evidence of the fabrication of flint implements [a number of cores, flakes, and chips from this spot were exhibited to the Society}; but I did not succeed in finding any flint tool, with the exception of one fragment of a well-chipped spear-head. I also found on the dykes several pieces of pottery of undoubtedly British production, and a fragment of wheel-made pottery of later date.
In the year 1836 an oval bronze shield, 14 by 13 inches in diameter, was discovered in the bed of the Isis, about 150 yards to the rear of the left flank of the dyke, beneath an accumulation of recent drift. {A drawing of this shield was exhibited, of the actual size.]The original is in the British Museum, and is described in vol. xxxviii. of the ^Archseologia'.
Mr. Clutterbuck, the rector of Long Wittenham, and the writer of an article on this place in the 'Archoeologia’ is of opinion, from the position of this discovery, that the river still runs in its original course, and no doubt this is the case to a considerable extent; but there is, I think, evidence that the river has slightly altered its course since the dykes were erected. From the curve which the river makes at this point it might naturally be expected that it would leave the dykes on the north, and work its way southward; but it was no doubt checked by the higher ground on the south. The sketch plan exhibited to the Meeting shows, however, that the flanks of the dyke do not reach the present bank of the river, and that a space of thirty paces intervenes on the left flank, while on the right the dyke stops seventy paces short of the Thame stream. It is improbable that the defenders should have neglected to secure their flanks by causing them to abut upon the banks of the river as they existed at the time of its construction. The position of the portion of the dyke which is thrown back on the right flank also shows the Thame stream must have extended more to the westward, probably up to the line now marked by a small ditch. From the nearest point of this original line the dyke is drawn straight across to the Isis; but the meadow-ground below Dorchester, on the right bank of the Thame stream, must have been covered with water, though probably shallow and fordable; and it was in order to command this ground that an epaulement was thrown back on the right flank; but the abrupt termination of the work at seventy paces distance from the present stream shows that deep water must have existed to the westward of the present stream.
I found no trace of Roman tiles or pottery, nor can I learn that any thing Roman has been discovered on the site of the camp, though no doubt Dorchester itself was at one time a Roman station. This circumstance, coupled with the discovery of a bronze shield and the evidence of flint cores and debris (all of which must have been imported, as this is not a flint-producing district), appears to me conclusive in determining the fortifications to be of British construction. Viewing the position of the two works, and the position of the ancient ford between them, it may safely be assumed that they were connected in the defence of this locality, and were the work of the same people.
The ancient Britons never constructed their camps upon low ground. Sinodun Hill was no doubt the principal stronghold; and the Dorchester dykes on the low ground to the north of the river were thrown up to cover the passage of the river at the ford, and secure a communication with the left bank. About 200 yards of the left flank of the Dorchester dykes have now been levelled, or rather reduced for cultivation; a portion of this, however, was done by the former owner. I called upon Mr. Latham, the present owner, by whom the work of demolition is now being continued. After some conversation I elicited from him a promise that the levelling should be discontinued for the present; but I could obtain no assurance that it would not be continued at some future time. This is much to be regretted, as the ramparts are now in a good state of preservation. Traces of the work, however, will still be seen in those parts which have been lowered for cultivation.

G. vii. a.
This square mile contains a stone circle, of considerable dimensions, though imperfect and formed of very small sarsens, but which I believe to have been in some way connected with Abury. Though it appears to have been mentioned by Stukeley one hundred and forty years ago, it had been long since buried, and completely forgotten till I was fortunate enough to discover it by digging in the year 1877.
I was led to the discovery by the suspicious look of certain stones, which, though scattered in no regular form, appeared as if they might have once stood erect, in some sort of order, on the segment of a large circle. I had often stopped to examine them as I wandered over that part of the downs; till at last previous suspicions ripened into conviction, as closer observation revealed sundry other stones just showing above ground, and there also seemed to be faint indications of a trench, all pointing, with more or less accuracy, to the supposed circle.
Not to dwell upon the details of the investigation, which, however, were of singular interest to me, the result was that (with the permission of both owner and occupier of the land, and assisted by Mr. William Long) I probed the ground in every direction, and uncovered the turf wherever a stone was found : and on our first day's work we unearthed no less than twenty-two sarsen stones, all forming part of the circle, and lying from two to twelve inches below the surface. These stones were all of small size, some of them very small,1 but that they were placed by the hand of man in the positions they now occupy, in many cases nearly touching one another, and that they formed part of a large circle or oblong, admits, I think, of no doubt. I say part of a circle, because, though the northern, southern, and eastern segments are tolerably well defined, I could find scarcely a single stone on what should be the western segment to complete the circle. That the area thus enclosed is not insignificant will appear from the diameter (in length, or from north to south, 261 feet; and in breadth, or from east to west, 216 feet). Again, its position (due south of Silbury, and within full view of it, as well as of the Sanctuary on Overton Hill, and with Abury immediately behind Silbury, due north of it, from which also Silbury is equidistant) seems to intimate that it may have had some connection with the great temple.
W. Stukeley mentions, in the following passage from page 46 of Abury Described, "Upon the heath south of Silbury Hill was a very large oblong work like a long barrow, made only of stones pitch'd in the ground; no tumulus. Mr. Smith before-mentioned told me his cousin took the stones away [then] fourteen years ago, to make mere stones withal. I take it to have been an Archdruid's, tho' humble, yet magnificent: being 350 feet or 200 cubits long."
Sir R. Hoare, who, it is evident, did not know its exact locality, merely remarks on page 96 of Ancient Wilts, North, that " Stukeley mentions on a heath south of Silbury Hill, a large oblong work made only of stones pitched on end, but no sepulchral mound."
Subsequently, however, in speaking of " Religious Circles," he says on page 108: "In many parts of our county we find circles enclosed by a slight vallum of earth, some having an entrance, and others none: they are usually placed on elevated ground, and in commanding situations. On exploring their area, we dig up black earth with the fragments of bones, probably the victims of sacrifice: they are generally found to be placed near to some British settlement, and in some instances I have found them within it, and forming a part thereof, as in modern days the Church is considered as a feature of the village, and a necessary appendage. Such is the case within the lines of the British works on Huish Hill, in North Wilts."
So says Sir R. Hoare, though I must confess that I cannot ascertain the existence of any similar circle of diminutive stones either on Huish Hill, or anywhere else in North Wilts: though in Denmark such circles are not uncommon, and often of very trifling dimensions, with a diameter of 20 to 25 or 30 feet, and oftentimes diverging into other (frequently strange and irregular) shapes, and composed of small stones. There is an admirable exemplification of such diminutive stone circles, oblongs, triangles, and other forms, in the Plan of the Promontory of Hjorte-hammers. But what may have been the intention of these Danish circles and squares and triangles, abundant though they are on the coast of Jutland, I do not think the Danish antiquaries have ever determined.
Nor were the members of the Wiltshire Archaeological Society, with Sir John Lubbock at their head, who visited this stone circle south of Silbury in 1879, able to form any opinion as to its object; nor could the able antiquaries of the British Archaeological Association, who visited it in 1880, give any decided verdict on the point: indeed they, not unnaturally, shrank from committing themselves by any off-hand expression of opinion: though all appeared to consider it as of great interest, and as worthy of very careful examination, more especially in its supposed connection with Abury and other allied relics of antiquity near.

Little Cressingham, barrows (TL/867992) 0.75 mile S of Little Cressingham, on W side of Hard Clump, S of road from Clermont to Hopton House. Other barrows to W, in Seven Acre Plantation.
Grave goods in Norwich Museum.

Though levelled by the plough, the bowl-barrow at TL/867992 is important because of the unusually rich grave goods deposited with the male burial beneath it. The skeleton had been buried W of the barrow centre, its knees drawn up. It had been deposited dressed, with an elaborate amber necklace and a rectangular gold plate sewn to clothing on the chest. There were other gold ornaments together with a knife and a dagger of bronze. These grave goods are as rich as anything from Wessex: date, c. 1.700 1.400 BC.
Other bowl-barrows, probably contemporary and part of one cemetery, are N of Seven Acre Plantation. That at TL/8619S6 is enormous, being over 200 ft. in diam, and about 15 ft. high. Another to the NE is under the plough: it is about 120 ft. across and 3 4 ft. high.

Five Marys, barrow cemetery (SY/790842) 2.75 miles ESE of A353/A352 junction, 1 mile W of Winfrith Newburgh.

There are 8 barrows in this group. arranged in a line E/W, following the ridge in the following order (E/W): bowl. pond, bell, bell, bowl, bowl, bowl, bell. The bowl-barrows have diams. of 20 to 70ft, and hts. 1-7 ft. The mounds of the bells are 50-70 ft. wide and 8-9 ft. high, their overall diams. being about 90 ft. The pond barrow is about 9 ft wide, with a slight outer bank giving it an overall diam. of about 20 ft. This cemetery, a good example of barrows accumulated in a straight line, must have been built in the period c. 1,700-1,400 BC.