Reasons for Designation
Itford Hill style settlements are small domestic settlements of one to three
households, usually covering an area of between 1ha and 3ha, comprising a
series of small banked compounds set back to back. The compounds are
frequently associated with tracks and hollow ways which link the settlements
to field systems, and round barrow cemeteries are often nearby. The
settlements date to the Late Bronze Age (tenth to eighth centuries BC).
Excavated examples have shown that the compounds usually contain circular
wooden buildings varying in diameter from 3m to 8m, with entrance porches.
Associated with these structures would have been a series of working areas and
fenced compounds; small ponds have also been found. Finds, including
loomweights and carbonised grain, provide evidence for the practice of a mixed
farming economy.
Itford Hill style settlements are found in southern England, principally in
the chalk downland of Sussex where Itford Hill itself is located. They are a
rare monument type, with less than 20 examples known nationally.
This part of the settlement on Itford Hill, the type site for this class of
monument, survives well and has been shown by part excavation to contain a
wide range of archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to
the period of its construction and use. The settlement lies adjacent to a
prehistoric linear boundary. These monuments are broadly contemporary, and
their close association will provide evidence for the relationship between
settlement and land division during the Bronze Age.
Details
The monument includes the largest, north western part of a settlement dating
to the Late Bronze Age situated on a hill which forms the western end of a
ridge of the Sussex Downs. This location enjoys extensive views of the Ouse
Valley to the west and the English Channel to the south. The south eastern
part of the settlement lies 150m to the south east and with the adjoining
linear boundary, is the subject of a separate scheduling.
The north western part of the settlement survives in earthwork form and
contains at least seven banked, roughly oval and sub-rectangular compounds
measuring between 12m by 10m and 40m by 25m. These are built back to back
against, and are linked by, a south west-north east aligned, lynchet-like bank
c.192m long, c.5m wide and up to c.1m high. During part excavation between
1949-52, the compounds were found to contain at least ten circular or oval
timber buildings, representing houses, food and textile preparation huts, and
stock shelters. The banks which enclose each compound survive to heights of up
to c.1m and are constructed of dumped earth and chalk rubble. Trenches found
running along the tops of the banks suggest that they were originally
supplemented with palisades.
Finds discovered during the excavation suggest that the settlement was in use
during the tenth to eighth centuries BC. These included pottery sherds,
loomweights, carbonised grain, fragments of saddle querns and the bones of
cattle and sheep or goats. Among the more unusual artefacts found were part of
an armlet made of shale from Kimmeredge in Dorset and a carved chalk phallus.
The modern concrete marker posts situated around the periphery of the monument
are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is
included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.
