Ponter's Ball Dyke is a linear earthwork located near

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It crosses, at right angles, an ancient road that continues on to the

Isle of Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...

. It consists of an embankment with a ditch on the east side. It is built across the ridge of land between Glastonbury and

West Pennard West Pennard (or West Pennard Manor) is a village and civil parish east of Glastonbury, situated at the foot of Pennard Hill, in the Mendip District, Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet (place), hamlets of Coxbridg ...

. Both ends of the ditch and dyke disappear into moorland, formerly swamps. The current visible remains extend to just over 1 kilometre. It is bisected by the

A361 The A361 is an A class road in southern England, which at is the longest three-digit A road in the UK. History When first designated in 1922, the A361 ran from Taunton (Somerset) to Banbury (Oxfordshire). It was later extended west through B ...

and crossed by three public footpaths. The gap where the road runs through the dyke is staggered, suggesting that the gap is original.

History

It was excavated in 1909 by Arthur Bulleid, and again in 1970 by Peter Poyntz Wright and the Glastonbury Antiquarian Society. Bulleid's excavation just north of the road revealed that the bank was 9 feet high and made of layers of yellow and grey clay, while the ditch was 12 feet deep in hard blue

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...

. Neither excavation found significant objects with the exception of fragmentary pottery of prehistoric and medieval origin. Interpretation of the site is not clear. It is possible that it was part of a longer defensive barrier associated with

New Ditch New Ditch is a linear earthwork of possible Iron Age or Medieval construction. It partially crosses the Polden Hills in woodlands approximately south-west from the village of Butleigh in Somerset, England. Its construction is similar to Ponte ...

three miles to the south-west which is built in a similar manner. It has been suggested that it is part of a great Celtic sanctuary, probably 3rd century B.C., while others date it to the post-Roman period and connect it with the

Dark Age The ''Dark Ages'' is a term for the Early Middle Ages, or occasionally the entire Middle Ages, in Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire that characterises it as marked by economic, intellectual and cultural decline. The conce ...

occupation on Glastonbury Tor
David Cooper
posits that it was the site of the Battle of ''Posentesbyrg'', fought in AD 661 between Cenwalh of Wessex and Wulfhere of Mercia. The 1970 excavation suggests the 12th century or later. Using LiDAR data of the area to simulate rising sea levels suggests the ditch once ran into marshy land (likely prior to the effective digging of drainage channels). This goes some way to explaining its limited extent. It is also claimed that Ponter’s Ball delineates the long single horn on the head of the Capricorn effigy in the

Temple of the Stars The Temple of the Stars is an alleged ancient temple claimed to be situated around Glastonbury in Somerset, England. Origin The temple is claimed by some to depict a colossal landscape zodiac, a map of the stars on a gigantic scale, formed by fe ...

, an alleged ancient temple thought to be situated around Glastonbury.

Nomenclature

The name Ponter's Ball is said to be derived from "pontis vallum", Latin meaning "the bridge over the ditch." In the early 19th century it was called Ponting's Ball and by 1876 Fronter's Ball. An alternative of Portarius after a family who owned land at

Havyatt Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

References

{{Reflist Archaeological sites in Somerset Ancient dikes Glastonbury Scheduled monuments in Mendip District Linear earthworks