Aves Ditch (also known as Ash Bank, or Wattle Bank) is an Iron Age ditch and bank structure running about on a northeast to southwest alignment in the

Cherwell District Cherwell ( ) is a local government district in northern Oxfordshire, England. The district takes its name from the River Cherwell, which drains south through the region to flow into the River Thames at Oxford. Towns in Cherwell include Banbu ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. It was once believed to have been a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

road but excavation has shown it to be a boundary dyke of Iron Age date that was reused in the Anglo-Saxon period. A skull found in the ditch was dated to the Anglo-Saxon period. It now forms the boundary between the civil parishes of

Lower Heyford Lower Heyford is a village and civil parish beside the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, about west of Bicester. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 492. The parish measures about east–west and about north–south. It is bou ...

and

Middleton Stoney Middleton Stoney is a village and civil parish about west of Bicester, Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 331. The parish measures about north–south and about east–west, and in 1959 its area was . Its eas ...

. Both Sauer and Lambrick have suggested that the Aves Ditch along with the North Oxfordshire Grim’s Ditch and the South Oxfordshire Grim’s Ditch may have formed the boundary between the Iron Age tribes of the Dobunni and the Catuvellauni.

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External links

Geograph: SP5123 : Aves Ditch (photograph)
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Oxfordshire History of Oxfordshire Linear earthworks Archaeological sites in Oxfordshire