Dead Woman's Ditch is an earthwork which has been scheduled as an ancient monument in

Over Stowey Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England *Over, Cheshire, England *Over, South Gloucestershire, England * Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England ** Over Bridge *Over, Seevetal Over is a village in the municipality of Seevet ...

, Somerset, England situated on the Quantock Hills. A linear earthwork consisting of a bank with a ditch along the west side running for approximately from a spring known as Lady's Fountain across Robin Uprights Hill and down into Ramscombe. The earthwork is presumed to be of prehistoric origin and is of unknown purpose, but has been linked to

Dowsborough Dowsborough Camp (or ''Danesborough'' or ''Dawesbury'') is an Iron Age hill fort on the Quantock Hills near Nether Stowey in Somerset, England. It has been designated as a Scheduled Monument. The fort and associated round barrow has been added ...

. The long earthwork has been cut through by later tracks and a road. It is badly eroded in places and is on the Heritage at Risk Register. Part of the earthwork is on land owned by the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

. Dead Woman's Ditch is sometimes associated with the murder of Jane Walford by her husband John in 1789 but the name predates the murder, appearing on an earlier map. In 1988 the body of Shirley Banks was found 1 mile from the site;

John Cannan John David Guise Cannan (born 20 February 1954) is a British murderer, serial rapist, serial abductor and suspected serial killer. A former car salesman, Cannan was convicted in July 1988 of murder and multiple sexual offences, abductions and ...

was found guilty of her murder. While walking in or around Dead Woman's Ditch people have reported that they were able to hear the faint words of Jane Walford.

References

{{coord, 51, 08, 1, N, 3, 12, 00, W, type:landmark, display=title Archaeological sites in Somerset Linear earthworks