New Ditch

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New Ditch
New Ditch Ancient Settlement.jpg
Location Butleigh, Somerset, England
Coordinates 51°05′47″N2°42′37″W / 51.09639°N 2.71028°W / 51.09639; -2.71028 Coordinates: 51°05′47″N2°42′37″W / 51.09639°N 2.71028°W / 51.09639; -2.71028
Reference no.Somerset 447 [1]
Somerset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of New Ditch in Somerset

New Ditch is a linear earthwork of possible Iron Age or Medieval construction. [2] It partially crosses the Polden Hills in woodlands approximately 1.1 miles (1.8 km) south-west from the village of Butleigh in Somerset, England.

Earthworks (archaeology) General term to describe artificial changes in land level

In archaeology, earthworks are artificial changes in land level, typically made from piles of artificially placed or sculpted rocks and soil. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features, or they can show features beneath the surface.

The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, which had an independent Iron Age culture of its own. The parallel phase of Irish archaeology is termed the Irish Iron Age. The Iron Age is not an archaeological horizon of common artefacts, but is rather a locally diverse cultural phase.

The Polden Hills in Somerset, England are a long, low ridge, extending for 10 miles (16 km), and separated from the Mendip Hills, to which they are nearly parallel, by a marshy tract, known as the Somerset Levels. They are now bisected at their western end by the M5 motorway and a railway, the Bristol and Exeter Railway, part of the Great Western Main Line.

Its construction is similar to Ponter's Ball Dyke 3 miles to the northeast, with the dyke on the south east of the embankment, but of less massive construction. Both were probably part of a more extensive defence scheme. It is nearly half a mile in length and was probably of greater extent originally, but as it stands, New Ditch cannot be termed a cross-ridge dyke although it does seem to be a boundary work. [2]

Ponters Ball Dyke Cross dyke in Somerset, England

Ponter's Ball Dyke is a linear earthwork located near Glastonbury in Somerset, England. It crosses, at right angles, an ancient road that continues on to the Isle of Avalon. It consists of an embankment with a ditch on the east side. It is built across the ridge of land between Glastonbury and West Pennard. Both ends of the ditch and dyke disappear into moorland, formerly swamps.

Cross dyke Linear earthwork

A cross dyke or cross-dyke is a linear earthwork believed to be a prehistoric land boundary that usually measures between 0.2 and 1 kilometre in length. A typical cross dyke consists of one or more ditches running in parallel with one or more raised banks. Univallate cross dykes typically have a flat-bottomed ditch while the ditches of multivallate cross dykes possess a V-shaped cross-section. A defining characteristic of a cross dyke is that it cuts across the width of an upland ridge or the neck of an upland spur. Cross dykes generally occur at altitudes over 150 metres (490 ft) above mean sea level.

It is debatable whether this site is ancient because it is located close to a medieval woodland and a deer park. [1] [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 "New Ditch, Butleigh Wood, Butleigh". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council . Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  2. 1 2 "New Ditch". PastScape. English Heritage . Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  3. "Excavation of a Romano-British Site, Butleigh" (PDF). Absolute Archaeology. Retrieved 14 April 2011.