Combs Ditch is a

linear earthwork In archaeology, a linear earthwork is a long bank of earth, sometimes with a ditch alongside. There may also be a palisade along the top of the bank. Linear earthworks may have a ditch alongside which provides the source of earth for the bank and ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

Charlton Down Charlton Down is a new village in Dorset, England, situated approximately north of the county town Dorchester. It lies within the civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It i ...

. It was once at least 6.4 km long but now only 4.4 km is visible. It is sometimes spelt Comb's Ditch or Combe Ditch. The earthwork consists of a bank with a ditch on the north east side. Combs Ditch forms the boundary between several parishes in Dorset. The parishes of

Charlton Marshall Charlton Marshall is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It lies within the North Dorset administrative district, on the A350 road south of the market town of Blandford Forum. It is sited on a river terrace above the flood ...

and

Spetisbury Spetisbury () is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour and the A350 road, southeast of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the civil parish had 224 households and a population of 555. Spetisbury vil ...

lie to the north east of Combs Ditch while

Winterborne Whitechurch Winterborne Whitechurch, also Winterborne Whitchurch, is a village and civil parish in central Dorset, England, situated in a winterbourne valley on the A354 road on the Dorset Downs southwest of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the civi ...

Winterborne Kingston Winterborne Kingston is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies south of the town of Blandford Forum and northeast of the large village of Bere Regis. It is situated in a winterbourne valley on the ed ...

and Anderson lie to the south west. Combs Ditch is to the north of the Roman road that ran from Badbury Ring to Dorchester but there is no evidence that it intersected the road. The bank ranges from 5.4 m to 8.5 m wide with a maximum height of 2.2 m. The ditch varies in width from 4.8 to 8.5 m. Excavation found third- or fourth-century Roman pottery lying on the turf line behind the bank probably before its final reconstruction. The limited excavation seems to show an Iron Age boundary ditch being enlarged into a defensive earthwork in the late Roman or post-Roman period. This is similar to the nearby linear earthwork of

Bokerley Dyke Bokerley Dyke (or Bokerley Ditch) is a linear earthwork long in Hampshire, between Woodyates and Martin. It is a Scheduled Monument. It is also spelt Bokerly Dyke. Bokerley Dyke was excavated by Augustus Pitt Rivers between 1888 and 1891 and by ...

. It is a scheduled ancient monument.

References

History of Dorset Linear earthworks Archaeological sites in Dorset Scheduled monuments in Dorset {{UK-archaeology-stub