Summary

Ring banks on St Martha’s Hill, 655m ENE of Great Halfpenny Farm

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 17/10/14. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

DESCRIPTION
The monument includes ring banks surviving as earthworks 22m to 32m in diameter enclosed by a single bank/mound and external ditch. The ring banks are situated on the south side of the hill on gradually sloping terrain before the elevation sharply drops further down the slope. Two ring banks are located in close proximity to each other, about 60m and 100m south-west of St Martha’s Church near the brow of the hill. The other ring bank is situated further down the slope 270m ESE of St Martha’s Church. The ring banks are likely to be plantation rings, associated with tree planting for Chilworth Manor to the south. The soft, easily eroding, sandy upland soil and dense bracken in this area limit the visibility of the features, which appear as slight earthworks.

Further archaeological remains survive within the vicinity. Some such as the bowl barrow north-west of St Martha’s Hill are scheduled but others are not because they have not been formally assessed. There are a number of findspots of Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age implements in the area.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The Ring banks on St Martha’s Hill, 655m ENE of Great Halfpenny Farm form significant features in the landscape and will contain archaeological information relating to their construction and function. They are likely to form remains, in the form of plantation rings, of a designed landscape view from Chilworth Manor.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Surrey HER 300, 2042. NMR TQ04NW26. PastScape 393826.

Source: Historic England