About 90 examples of cross dykes have been recorded in England, although many more may have been lost to ploughing, or have been wrongly classified as short linear earthworks. Cross dykes are widely distributed across northern and western England. There are three main concentrations of the features, in Yorkshire, Wessex, and an area spanning the Cotswolds and Shropshire. Cross dykes are a relatively frequent feature on the South Downs, where they frequently cut right across the chalk ridge. In southeastern Scotland, cross dykes are an additional defensive feature associated with hill forts in the Cheviot Hills. Cross dykes are also found in Wales. Because of the comparatively few surviving examples and their importance as indicators of territorial boundaries and land use during the Bronze Age, well preserved examples of the type are judged to be of national importance.