Monument record LWL 004 - The Warbanks

The Warbanks. Part of irregular earthwork.
1978: Site is being ploughed but is still visible (S1).
Named as WAR BANK on 1842 Tithe map of Lawshall. Mapped in (S3). June 1992: Watching brief mounted on new AWA pipeline route beside road line. Details forthcoming.
(See Cockfield 001)

The earthworks comprise a series of straight,ditched,banks set out in angular plan, suggesting an enclosure open to the SW and covering some 22.5 hectares, with ditches on the outside. The works follow no topographical features in an area of clay with flints ploughland. Where best preserved, at TL 891 532, the scarp achieves a maximum height of 1.8m with a 0.8m ditch, and carries a modern field boundary, but the banks are now mostly under plough and considerably reduced and spread. The probable line of Roman Road 33a angles across the area but there is no
ground evidence of that closer than 1 km to the north. On OS APs (a) taken May 1975 the banks are visible extending from TL 8856 5339 to TL 8917 5295 with former ditched extensions of c.100m at either end. No traces to complete an enclosure nor the course of the Roman Road can be seen on the photos. The origin of the banks is obscure. Obviously not pre-historic, and with no reason to ascribe them to the Roman period they must be considered medieval or later. Published 25" survey revised