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 Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

, in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, England. It is near the boundaries with

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

and

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

. 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, visu ...

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

Bokerley Dyke Bokerley Dyke, Bokerly Dyke, Bokerley Ditch, is a linear earthwork long on Cranborne Chase in Dorset, partially running along the county's border with Hampshire between Woodyates and Martin. It is part of a Scheduled Monument together with Grim ...

. 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 () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, 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 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 methodology, and in the museum display ...

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, South Lodge Camp, Woodcutts Settlement, and Wor Barrow.

References

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