Devil's Dyke, Cambridgeshire
Notification 1984[1] | | |
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Devil's Dyke or Devil's Ditch is a linear earthen barrier, thought to be of
Description
The name Devil's Ditch or Dyke is a post-medieval one. In medieval times it was simply called the dic ("the ditch"), or le Micheldyche or magnum fossatum ("great ditch").[3]
Devil's Dyke is over 7 miles (11 km) long and is the largest of a series of ancient dykes in Cambridgeshire. In some places the bank measures 9 metres (30 ft) high and 36.5 metres (120 ft) across. The highest point along the Devil's Dyke is at Gallows Hill, where it measures 10.5 metres (34 ft) from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the earth wall.
Since the 19th century, a railway line and roads have been cut through the dyke, including the combined
From Reach, the dyke crosses farmland, before running along the edge of the July Course at Newmarket Racecourse and then through the woods of a private estate near the village of Woodditton.[4] The Rowley Mile course is unusual in that it can have races which start in one county, Cambridgeshire, and finish in another, Suffolk. It crosses the Devil's Dyke where it has been previously levelled.
History
There have been a number of
Early commentators
The earthwork has been described by various different commentators since
Context
Devil's Dyke is the largest of several earthworks in south Cambridgeshire that were either boundary markers or designed to control movement along the ancient trackways of Street Way (Ashwell Street) and Icknield Way. When it was created, it completely blocked a narrow land corridor between the southern edge of a region of water-logged marsh (now known as The Fens) in the north-west and dense woodlands in the south, so making circumvention difficult and forming an effective defensive barrier for the lands to the east. The dyke may have served as a way of controlling trade and movement in and out of the area. Findings such as the small quantity of silt in the ditch fills suggest that the dyke fell into disuse soon after it was built.
The other Cambridgeshire dykes include Fleam Dyke, Brent Ditch and Bran Ditch. In Suffolk, to the north west of Bury St Edmunds, a fifth earthwork, Black Ditches, Cavenham, guards the Icknield Way.
Ecology
The site has extensive chalk grassland with diverse species, and areas of woodland and chalk scrub. Rare plants, such as purple milk-vetch, bastard toadflax and pasque flowers, have been recorded.[10] The site is a 98-acre (39.8 hectare) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation.[11]
In popular culture
The American–British author
References
- ^ a b c d "Designated Sites View: Devil's Dyke". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
- ^ "Map of Devil's Dyke". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
- ^ a b Malim, T Malim (1997). "New Evidence on the Cambridgeshire Dykes and Worsted Street Roman Road" (PDF). Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society. 85: 27–122.
- ^ Cambridgeshire Historic Environment Record 07801.
- ^ "Devil's Ditch/Dyke, Reach to Woodditton". Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
- ^ "Devil's Ditch, Reach to Woodditton". Historic England. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
- ^ Earle, Two of the Saxon Chronicles Parallel, pp. lxxi, 98.
- ^ Tymms, The Devil's Dyke, Newmarket, p. 175.
- ^ Babington, Ancient Cambridgeshire, p.60.
- ^ "Devil's Dyke citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
- ^ "Devil's Dyke SAC". Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
- ^ Bryson, Bill (1995). "14". Notes From a Small Island. Black Swan. p. 182.
Sources
- Babington, Cardale (1883). Ancient Cambridgeshire: or an Attempt to Trace Roman and Other Ancient Roads That Passed Through the County of Cambridge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- "Cambridgeshire Historic Environment Record 07801 (Devil's Ditch/Dyke, Reach to Woodditton)". Heritage Gateway. 2006. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
- Clarendon Press.
Earle, John (1865). Two of the Saxon Chronicles Parallel
- Fox, C. (1923). The Archaeology of the Cambridge Region: a topographical study of the Bronze, Early Iron, Roman and Anglo-Saxon Ages, with an introductory note on the Neolithic Age. Cambridge: OCLC 889947651.
- Tymms, Samuel (1853). "The Devil's Dyke, Newmarket". Proceedings of the Bury and West Suffolk Archaeological Institute. 1. Bury St. Edmunds. Retrieved 21 November 2011.