Ashurst Lodge (New Forest) Bronze Age Enclosure
       
     
The northern side of the earthwork
       
     
Ashurst Lodge (New Forest) Bronze Age Enclosure
       
     
Ashurst Lodge (New Forest) Bronze Age Enclosure

We stumbled on this small charming enclosure while ambling around the New Forest. It's not very big, popular with local bovine herds, probably no more than about 20-25m in diameter and the banks no more than 1.5m high (mostly on the southern side). I imagine in the winter months it's probably very boggy around here and the northern and eastern sides are bounded by the beginnings of the Beaulieu River which acts as a natural defence. Pastscape describes the earthwork as a Bronze Age enclosure or early Iron Age univalate Fort. I'd go for the former as the earthworks don't seem like they were ever defensive and more about preserving a bit of dry ground in a very flat area. There are also a number of (presumably) Bronze Age barrows nearby which might support that.

The northern side of the earthwork
       
     
The northern side of the earthwork