The Martin Down Enclosure is an archaeological site on

Martin Down Martin and Tidpit Downs is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Fordingbridge in Hampshire. Martin Down is a national nature reserve and an area of is a ''Nature Conservation Review'' site, Grade I. Bokerley Dyke, a ...

, near the village of

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

, in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, England. It is near the boundaries with

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

and

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. The site is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

, and it is one of several archaeological features on Martin Down, such as

Bokerley Dyke Bokerley Dyke (or Bokerley Ditch) is a linear earthwork long in Hampshire, between Woodyates and Martin. It is a Scheduled Monument. It is also spelt Bokerly Dyke. Bokerley Dyke was excavated by Augustus Pitt Rivers between 1888 and 1891 and by ...

. The enclosure is the original example of a type of prehistoric feature, the "Martin Down style enclosure": they are small enclosures of the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

, area often less than , considered to be domestic settlements. They have mostly been found on

downland Downland, chalkland, chalk downs or just downs are areas of open chalk hills, such as the North Downs. This term is used to describe the characteristic landscape in southern England where chalk is exposed at the surface. The name "downs" is deriv ...

of central southern England, usually situated on hillsides. Other examples are on Harrow Hill and Thundersbarrow Hill, both in West Sussex, South Lodge in Wiltshire, and on Shearplace Hill in Dorset.

Description

There was excavation by

Augustus Pitt Rivers Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers (14 April 18274 May 1900) was an English officer in the British Army, ethnologist, and archaeologist. He was noted for innovations in archaeological met ...

from November 1895 to March 1896. He excavated all of the bank and ditch, and about half of the interior; the present earthwork is his reconstruction. It was concluded that the site is middle Bronze Age, with later

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

occupation. Finds from the excavation included worked flint, animal bone and pottery of the Bronze Age and Romano-British period. The rectangular enclosure has internal dimensions of about south-west to north-east by . It has a single bank of width up to and up to above the interior, and there is an external ditch. There is a gap (established as original during the excavation) at the eastern end of the north side, width about , and there are entrances on the east and south sides.

Excavations by Pitt Rivers

Other sites on Cranborne Chase excavated by Pitt Rivers include the

Rotherley Down Settlement Rotherley Down Settlement is an archaeological site of the late Iron Age and Romano-British period on Cranborne Chase, England. It is about south of Berwick St John, and north of Tollard Royal, in Wiltshire, near the boundary with Dorset. It i ...

, South Lodge Camp, Woodcutts Settlement and Wor Barrow.

References

{{reflist Archaeological sites in Hampshire Bronze Age sites in Hampshire Scheduled monuments in Hampshire