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 two sections of a prehistoric boundary known as the
Buckinghamshire Grim's Ditch, situated approximately 80m apart, extending
broadly south west from Lanes End towards Oaken Grove.
These sections of Grim's Ditch are situated on ground which slopes to the
south west. The north eastern length survives as a clearly visible
earthwork approximately 90m in length. The earthen bank measures up to
7.2m wide and 1m high in some places. To the south east of the bank lies a
parallel ditch, which has been partially filled in and measures
approximately 8m wide and up to 0.5m in depth. The south western length of
Grim's Ditch to the north east of Oaken Grove measures about 318m in
length and can be traced from the low surviving remains of the bank. The
flanking ditch is now completely infilled, but survives as a buried
feature visible from the air as a cropmark caused by a variation in the
moisture content of the soil. An excavation carried out in 1973 along a
section of Grim's Ditch 1.5km 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 these sections of Grim's Ditch.
At the eastern end of the north eastern length of the monument, where it is
sited in the garden of Jadewood, a garage has truncated part of the ditch and
a large pond has cut into the bank. A section of the ditch is also partially
overlain by the driveway.
The boundary originally continued along the 80m length between these two
sections, however later disturbance in this area appears to have removed
evidence of the monument. Further sections of Grim's Ditch remain visible
to the south west in Oaken Grove and to the north east near Coppice Farm.
These sections and others along the entire known route of the boundary are
the subject of separate schedulings.
The garage, pond and surface of the driveway, together with all the fences,
walls, gates, the greenhouse, oil tank and beehives are excluded from the
scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
35342
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Other
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
