Combs Ditch
{{short description|Earthwork in Dorset, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
Combs Ditch (sometimes spelt Comb's Ditch or Combe Ditch{{Cite book|last=Director General of the Ordnance Survey|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/253968282|title=Map of Britain in the Dark Ages|date=1974|publisher=Director General of the Ordnance Survey|oclc=253968282}}) is a linear earthwork on Charlton Down in Dorset, England. Combs Ditch forms the boundary between several parishes in Dorset. The parishes of Charlton Marshall and Spetisbury lie to the north east of Combs Ditch while Winterborne Whitechurch, Winterborne Kingston and Anderson lie to the south west. The earthwork is a scheduled ancient monument.{{Cite web|title=Heritage Gateway|url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1002400&resourceID=5|url-status=live|access-date=2021-11-01|website=Heritage Gateway|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101212739/https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1002400&resourceID=5 |archive-date=2021-11-01 }}
Description
Combs Ditch lies to the north of the Roman road that ran from Badbury Ring to Dorchester but there is no evidence that it intersected the road. The earthwork consists of a bank with a ditch on the north east side. It was once at least {{convert|6.4|km|mi}} long but now only {{convert|4.4|km|mi}} is visible.{{Cite book|last=Bell, Mark.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/779864488|title=The archaeology of the dykes : from the Romans to Offa's dyke|date=2012|publisher=Amberley|isbn=978-1-4456-0133-5|location=Stroud|oclc=779864488}} The bank ranges from {{convert|5.4|to|8.5|m|ftin}} wide with a maximum height of {{convert|2.2|m|ftin}}. The ditch varies in width from {{convert|4.8|to|8.5|m|ftin}}.{{Cite web|title=Pastscape - Detailed Result: COMBS DITCH|url=https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=205716&sort=4&search=all&criteria=combs%20ditch&rational=q&recordsperpage=10|website=www.pastscape.org.uk|access-date=2020-05-20}}
Archaeology
Excavation found third- or fourth-century Roman pottery lying on the turf line behind the bank probably before its final reconstruction.{{Cite journal|last=Fowler|first=Peter|date=1964|title=Interim Report on an Excavation in Combs Ditch Dorset, 1964|journal=Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society|volume=86|pages=112}} The limited excavation seems to show an Iron Age boundary ditch being enlarged into a defensive earthwork in the late Roman or post-Roman period. This is similar to the nearby linear earthwork of Bokerley Dyke.
References
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Category:Archaeological sites in Dorset
Category:Scheduled monuments in Dorset
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