The March Sconce, Civil War fieldwork

History of the March Sconce

Listed Building:

The monument includes the remains of an earthen fort, or sconce, dating from the English Civil War, and a pattern of earlier earthworks overlain by the sconce, which cover a rectangular field of approximately 2ha to the south of Eastwood Avenue in the Town End area of March. The sconce lies in the south eastern quarter of the field, visible as a low rectangular platform orientated east to west and measuring approximately 60m in length and 35m in width.  …… The sconce is undoubtedly the work of Parliamentarian forces, and was probably constructed between 1643 and 1645 during the first stage of the Civil War. …. The March Sconce is thought to have served as part of this frontier and to have provided protection for the island on which was stored the magazine for the whole of the Isle of Ely.