© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)
Grim's Ditch is a linear earthwork of Iron Age date located in Berkshire, representing one of several sections of a substantial defensive or territorial boundary system that extends across the Chilterns region. The section at Chilton Plantation survives as a bank and ditch formation, characteristic of the Grim's Ditch system as a whole, which scholars generally interpret as a boundary marker rather than a primary military fortification. The monument dates to the pre-Roman Iron Age period and forms part of the wider network of similar earthworks recorded across Oxfordshire and Berkshire that may have served to delineate territory or control movement across the landscape. As a scheduled ancient monument, it remains an important archaeological record of Iron Age land division and settlement patterns in south-central England.
Grim's Ditch: section W of Chilton Plantation See also OXFORDSHIRE 216 is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1006980. View the official record →
Grim's Ditch is a linear earthwork of Iron Age date located in Berkshire, representing one of several sections of a substantial defensive or territorial boundary system that extends across the Chilterns region. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1006980.
Grim's Ditch: section W of Chilton Plantation See also OXFORDSHIRE 216 is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1006980.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Barrow N of Ridgeway, Hodcott Down (2.5 km), Long barrow on Sheep Down, 1km north of East Ilsley (3.4 km), Bowl barrow 500m west of Churn Park Cottage (4.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Grim's Ditch: section W of Chilton Plantation See also OXFORDSHIRE 216's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Grim's Ditch: section W of Chilton Plantation See also OXFORDSHIRE 216 stands on White Chalk Subgroup, bedrock that formed in the Maastrichtian. The rock here is chalk.