Reasons for Designation
Linear boundaries are substantial earthwork features comprising single or
multiple ditches and banks which may extend over distances varying between
less than 1km to over 10km. They survive as earthworks or as linear features
visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs or as a combination of both. The
evidence of excavation and study of associated monuments demonstrate that
their construction spans the millennium from the Middle Bronze Age, although
they may have been reused later.
The scale of many linear boundaries has been taken to indicate that they were
constructed by large social groups and were used to mark important boundaries
in the landscape; their impressive scale displaying the corporate prestige of
their builders. They would have been powerful symbols, often with religious
associations, used to define and order the territorial holdings of those
groups who constructed them. Linear earthworks are of considerable importance
for the analysis of settlement and land use in the Bronze Age; all well-
preserved examples will normally merit statutory protection.
Details
The monument includes a 350m curved length of the prehistoric boundary
known as the Buckinghamshire Grim's Ditch located on high ground to the
north of Great Missenden. Beginning to the north east of Cottage Farm the
boundary runs in a north easterly direction for some 100m through a narrow
stretch of woodland within the grounds of Cottage Farm; then, after a
gradual change in direction, NNE for 250m along the eastern edge of the
pasture field to the west of Three Bears Cottage, through a narrow stretch
of woodland flanked by cultivated fields, and into the cultivated field
NNE of the woodland.
This section of the Buckinghamshire Grim's Ditch survives as a substantial
earthwork along most of its length. The earthen bank measures up to 8m
wide and stands up to 0.6m high. To the east of the bank lies a parallel
ditch, up to 8m wide and up to 0.5m in depth. An excavation, carried out
in 1973 along a stretch of Grim's Ditch approximately 6km to the north
east, produced evidence of a level area, or berm, separating the bank and
ditch. Evidence for a palisade trench, which would have supported a
wooden fence, was also found along the outer edge of the ditch. Similar
components may survive as buried features along this particular section of
the Grim's Ditch.
A recent geophysical survey identified that the ditch and traces of the
bank continued for a further 22m at the NNE end of the visible earthwork
despite having been levelled by cultivation. This buried stretch is
included in the scheduling.
The geophysical survey was unable to provide conclusive evidence that
Grim's Ditch continued beyond the known 350m long section either to the
north or to the south west and it is possible that this section of the
boundary represents an isolated stretch with substantial breaks between it
and the sections at Great Hampden, 3.5km to the south west and Great
Widmoor Wood, 2.5km to the north, both of which are the subject of
separate schedulings.
All fences and fence posts, the garage, oil tank and the surface of the
driveway relating to Three Bears Cottage are excluded from the scheduling,
although the ground beneath these features is included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
35339
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
