Indicated — Frenchgrove

In the N corner of a modern rectangular pasture field, encompassing a natural rise with a slight fall of ground SE-S to an expanse of damp pasture. Views are good but not extensive. Broadly oval area (47.6m NNE-SSW; 42.8m WNW-ESE) defined by a low earthen scarp, planted with a ring of sycamore trees. The enclosure subsumes the entire natural rise, with the enclosing scarp cut vertically into the natural slope. A section of the scarp at S is relatively substantial (H 0.8m) with a hint of an internal lip (Wth 1m), but elsewhere around the circuit it is slight (H 0.35-0.5m), and at NE-ESE it is almost entirely degraded by farm stock. At SE the scarp becomes a broad ramp-like slope (Wth 8m). The centre and E of the interior are relatively level, but there is a marked slope down to S and W, with a drop in height of c. 1.5m at NW. A roughly circular pit (diam. c. 7m; D c. 0.5m) has been quarried out of the slope in the N part of the interior, just inside the scarp, and a similar, though shallower, depression is evident in the S slope of the interior. The remains indicate that a low natural rise has been modified to form an enclosure. It is likely that it was constructed as a decorative tree-ring on the Frenchgrove House estate, though it is not impossible that it is the remnants of a ringfort. There is a very similar enclosure (MA119-036----) 140m to NE. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 4 August 2023