Grim's Ditch is a series of linear earthwork in the Chilterns (southeast England). A complete outline cannot be identified but separate sections exist over a span between

Bradenham, Buckinghamshire Bradenham is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. It is near Saunderton, off the main A4010 road between Princes Risborough and High Wycombe. Village The village name is Anglo-Saxon and means 'broad enclosure', referring t ...

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

and as far as

Pitstone Pitstone (formerly Pightelsthorn, with possible variation Pychelesthorn in 1399) is a village and civil parish in east Buckinghamshire, England. It is at the foot of the central range of the Chiltern Hills, centred east of Aylesbury and south ...

and

Ivinghoe Ivinghoe is a village and civil parish in east Buckinghamshire, England, close to the border with Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. It is northwest of London, north of Tring and south of Leighton Buzzard, close to the village of Pitstone. Ety ...

Buckinghamshire. Pottery shards have been unearthed in excavations during the 1970s and 1980s suggesting that its origin may have been during the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

and was believed to have been during a period when the landscape was clearer of scrub and the dense woodland than today as the straighter sections would have required clear lines of sight. The first mention of Grim's Ditch was a grant of 1170–90 in the Missenden

Cartulary A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll (''rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the fo ...

referring to it as ''Grimesdic''. The Anglo Saxons commonly named features of unexplained or mysterious origin ''Grim''. The word derives from the Norse word ''grimr'' meaning devil and a nickname for

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

Wodin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory ...

the God of War and Magic. Another mention is to be found in a 10th-century

Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

boundary charter for the Mongewell area. Its size varies considerably. At

Hastoe Hastoe (Halstowe or Halstoe in the 13th century) is a hamlet in the civil parish of Tring. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, 1.7m south of the town of Tring in the county of Hertfordshire and on the county boundary with Buckinghamshire. The hi ...

the ditch is wide and deep with a bank of and an overall spread of . The purpose of the earthwork is uncertain. It is thought by the

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

(1974) that it may be a set of local boundaries used to control the movement of cattle and carts and dating back to the Iron Age, as no

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

event is connected with it. It is not seen as having a defensive function due to the way that the banks have been constructed. It may in fact be a collection of structures with two or more purposes, with the hilltop section near

Cholesbury Cholesbury (recorded as Chelwardisbyry in the 13th century) is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, on the border with Hertfordshire. It is situated in the Chiltern Hills, about east of Wendover, north of Chesham and from Berkhamsted. Ch ...

being associated with the nearby Iron Age

Hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

whilst other sections lower down towards

Aylesbury Vale The Aylesbury Vale (or Vale of Aylesbury) is a geographical region in Buckinghamshire, England, which is bounded by the Borough of Milton Keynes and South Northamptonshire to the north, Central Bedfordshire and the Borough of Dacorum ( Hertfor ...

may demarcate areas where pig and cattle grazing occurred. Sections are scheduled as ancient monuments.

Route

References

*Ordnance Survey (1974) ''Britain in the Dark Ages'', 2nd ed., text reprinted with corr., Southampton : Ordnance Survey, p. 19 * *{{cite journal , last = Davis , first = Jean , title = Grim's Ditch in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire , journal = Records of Buckinghamshire , year = 1981 Buildings and structures in Hertfordshire Buildings and structures in Buckinghamshire Berkhamsted Chiltern Hills Ancient dikes Scheduled monuments in Hertfordshire Linear earthworks