More information : TL 98758140-TL 98978424 Devil's Ditch (NR). (1)
The Devil's Ditch is a dyke about two miles long running in a
north/south direction, connecting the alluvium of the Little Ouse
to a tributary stream of the River Thet south-west of Town Farm
at TL 992852.
It is attributed to the Iron Age by Cyril Fox, but to the Saxon
period by Rainbird Clarke. A section of the dyke was observed by
H D Hewettt, but no dating evidence was found. (2-5)
The Devil's Ditch is a simple linear earthwork, having a single
ditch on the west with a maximum depth of 1.8m, and an eastern
bank with a maximum height of 1.2m.
The dyke traverses an area of gently rolling, mainly level, sandy
heathland, anout 35.0m above sea level, now utilised for forestry and
arable. The earthwork has mostly been preserved, under bracken and
scrub, as a parish boundary and as the perimeter of a large
plantation. Two short stretches, from TL 9886 8222 to TL 98848208,
and from TL 9894 8350 to TL 9897 8322, have been filled and
ploughed out.
The light soils of the area have encouraged weathering and silting
of this feature, and the profile has been severely reduced. Date
uncertain.
Published 1:2500 revised. (6)
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