There is an area on the Hampshire Dorset border near Woodyates where you can find an abundance of prehistory. Situated in an area of over 7536 acres - 3050 hectares of gently rising area of open chalk grassland. Dominating this area is the 1600 year old Bockerley Dyke¹ and Grims Ditch. In the area surrounding the dyke you can also find many more monuments. Penbury Knoll and Mistlebury Hill forts, and 10 round barrows and 3 long barrows and a ring work called the Soldiers Ring. A settlement.

There are also 3 cursuses to be found on the downs. A cursus is a pair of parallel banks constructed by digging two ditches and piling the earth on the inside edges to form the banks. There are have been several cursuses discovered in the area. Cursus monuments date from the late Stone Age and are thought to have been used as ceremonial or processional trackways or roads. They vary in width from 15 to 90 yards, and the lengths vary from 45 yards to over 5 miles. This type of feature always appears to have been constructed in relationship to burials, or henges as part of a planned landscape. The best known example is probably the Stonehenge or Greater Cursus.

Finally there is a henge and an ancient trackway, all in almost unspoilt condition. This is a real walk through early history with a superb selection of earthworks.

Bockerley Dyke And Grims Ditch

The most distinctive of the monuments on the downland are the still impressive, the 1600 year old Bockerley Dyke stretching across the downs marks part of Hampshire Dorset border. The impressive nature of this bank and ditch features crossing the open country almost defies description.

Bockerley Dyke is so prominent, that it has been used define the Hampshire/Dorset border for many miles. It is thought Bockerley Dyke and Grims Ditch originated in the Bronze Age or Early Iron Age and were an important political and cultural boundary's which divided areas showing markedly different patterns of land division. Once established, Bockerley Dyke continued in use but was remodelled and adapted to suit the needs of later periods: these may have included the defensive needs of the later Iron Age, Roman and possibly post Roman periods.

Bockerley Dyke, which has often been referred to in documents as Bockerley Ditch, is classed as a Romano-British* defensive dyke, 3.25 miles - 5.2 km long. Located in north east Dorset, England, near the villages of Woodyates and Pentridge. Constructed as a deep ditch 18 to 20 ft. deep, the excavated soil was used to form a defensive bank or rampart 20 ft. high.

Academically referred to as a linear feature, it is simply a bank and ditch that it is nether completely rectangular or circular and regardless of shape it has two separate and distinct ends.

The age of Bockerley Dyke is uncertain, but it probably originated in the Bronze or Early Iron Age. Why it was built is unsure it may have been a simple political between tribes. Proof that it was constructed before the Roman Invasion is provided by the fact it has been cut through by the Ackling Dyke*. This is a 1st century Roman Road running from Old Sarum to Badbury Rings. In the 4th century it was cleaned out and bought back into use, the section cut by Ackling Dyke was rebuilt. The discovery of a coin of Emperor Valens dates this rebuild to just after AD 364, when Roman sources report that Britain was attacked by Picts, Scots and Saxons in a supposed Great Conspiracy. This occurred when the garrison of Hadrian’s Wall mutinied and allowed a forces to penetrate as far south as Dorset.

Bockerley Dyke has still retained some of its previous importance as it now forms part of the county boundary between Hampshire and Dorset.

Bockerley Dyke appears to be in alignment with Grim's Ditch which appears on a large scale topographical map as a spur of Bockerley Dyke that runs east into Hampshire. This may be regarded as evidence that at one time they could both have been part of a continuous earthwork*. Bockerley Dyke is very impressive the best place to see this feature is at Martin Down where it winds across the down land. The uphill section as it passes the barrows is perhaps the most evocative.

Bockerley Dyke Origins

In spite of what we have today the purpose of the earthworks still remains a mystery, It has been said by some scholars “they are too small for military use they may have served to demarcate territory”. However hill fort defensive bank and ditches are of similar dimensions. Archaeologists do agree that the Dyke was built around 700 to 300 BC by Bronze Age or early Iron Age peoples.

If we could turn the clock back evidence may emerge that Bockerley Dyke did not exist in isolation* it may have possibly connected to the local sections of Grim's Ditch to form a cohesive defensive work. It could also indicate the existence of either a large well organized people, or a co-operative of a group of tribes that offered each other military support. It is evident that whoever built the dyke had settled the area to the eastern side, as the defensive ditch is on the western side of the bank. It could be it was never completed either the threat never materialized or the builders were overwhelmed before it was completed.

This is however pure speculation based upon the existing evidence.

Another possibility for the fragmentary nature of the Dyke is simply that the landscape changed dramatically over the last 2,000 plus years. It is possible that the area was more densely forested and the dyke was constructed to simply defend the gaps between impenetrable areas or forest. There is some supporting evidence of this from the time of the battle of Hastings. A dense forest called the Andersweald or Forest of Anders is known to have covered the countryside to the north of the battle site. In 1066 this was a serious barrier to the advance of the Norman army*. It is not inconceivable that 1600 to 2,000 earlier, such dense woodland could have covered an area 175 miles from Hastings to the Dorset border, penetrated only by easily defended roads. Further evidence of this is the name Bockerley, this could derive from the Anglo-Saxon “Bok-leag” a feeding ground for fallow deer. If this is correct it suggests the area may have been heavily wooded in the Saxon era as fellow deer do not populate open areas.

This earthwork defines the Hampshire/Dorset border for just over 3 miles. It is thought to have originated in the Bronze Age or Early Iron Age and was an important political and cultural boundary which divided areas showing markedly different patterns of land division. Once established, the dyke continued in use but was remodeled and adapted to suit the needs of later periods: these included the more defensive requirements of the later Iron Age and Roman periods.

Walkers may like to know that the Jubilee Trail crosses Bockerley Dyke just to the south of Martin Down.

Other Monuments Located Within 5 Miles Of Bockerley Dyke

It is important to remember that the population of the area during the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age was very active and the surviving monuments provide evidence of this.

• Grims Ditch² - a linear earthwork, this differs to Bockerley Dyke, as it was constructed by digging a deep ditch and constructing a bank on each side of the ditch with the spoil.
• Martin Down³ - Bronze Age Enclosure Settlement with ditch.
• Vernditch Chase⁴ - Long Barrows.
• Wor Barrow⁵ - Long Barrow on Oakley Down, noted as the first properly recorded excavation of a barrow in Britain.
• Marleycombe Hill - Part of the Bowerchalke Downs⁶. A hill top bowl barrow burial. ⁷
• Pentridge Long Barrows - Numbered 1 to 4.
• Longbarrow House - Long Barrow.
• Blagdon Hill - A group of Round Barrows.
• Bottlebush Down - Barrow Cemetery.
• Scrubbity - Barrow Cemetery.
• Wyke Down - Round Barrows and Henge.
• Oakley Down Barrows - Barrow Cemetery.
• The South Down Ox Drove - Ancient track way and Round Barrows.

A cursus is a pair of parallel banks constructed by digging two ditches and piling the earth on the inside edges to form the banks. There are have been several cursuses or cursussen discovered in the area. Cursus monuments date from the late Stone Age and are thought to have been used as ceremonial or processional trackways or roads. They vary in width from 15 to 90 yards, and the lengths vary from 45 yards to over 5 miles. This type of feature always appears to have been constructed in relationship to burials, or henges as part of a planned landscape. The best known example is probably the Stonehenge or Greater Cursus.

• The Dorset Cursus - The longest known processional trackway or Cursus.
• Pentridge Cursus - processional Cursus.
• Gussage St Michael Cursus - processional Cursus.