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Wheathampstead earthwork is a late Iron Age settlement consisting of two concentric defensive banks and ditches enclosing an area on the chalk uplands of Hertfordshire. The site, known locally as the Devils Dyke and the Slad, dates to the 1st century BC and is interpreted as a major oppidum or fortified settlement of the Trinovantes or Catuvellauni tribes. The earthwork demonstrates substantial engineering effort with the inner rampart rising prominently and outer defences creating a formidable barrier, suggesting a settlement of considerable importance in the pre-Roman Iron Age. The site's strategic location and scale indicate it functioned as a significant tribal centre during the final centuries before the Roman conquest of Britain.
Wheathampstead earthwork incorporating Devils Dyke and the Slad is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1003521. View the official record →
Wheathampstead earthwork is a late Iron Age settlement consisting of two concentric defensive banks and ditches enclosing an area on the chalk uplands of Hertfordshire. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1003521.
Wheathampstead earthwork incorporating Devils Dyke and the Slad 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 1003521.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Iron Age territorial boundary known as Beech Bottom Dyke (4.6 km), Dicket Mead Roman villa (5.7 km), Lockleys Roman villa (6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Wheathampstead earthwork incorporating Devils Dyke and the Slad'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.
Wheathampstead earthwork incorporating Devils Dyke and the Slad stands on White Chalk Subgroup, bedrock that formed in the Maastrichtian. The rock here is chalk.