Nico Ditch: History and Purpose

• The Nico Ditch is a 6 mi (9.7 km) long earthwork in Greater Manchester, England.
• It stretches between Ashton-under-Lyne and Stretford.
• The ditch was built between the 5th and 11th centuries.
• It was likely used as a defensive fortification or a boundary marker.
• Today, sections of the ditch remain visible, measuring 4–5 yards (3.7–4.6 m) wide and up to 5 feet (1.5 m) deep.

Etymology

• The earliest reference to the ditch is in a charter from 1190 to 1212, calling it "Mykelldiche" and magnum fossatum, Latin for "large ditch".
• The name Nico became popular in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• Nico may come from the Anglo-Saxon word Hnickar, meaning a water spirit.
• The name could be a corruption of Mykelldiche, where micel means "big" in Anglo-Saxon.
• Another possible origin for Nico is the Anglo-Saxon word nǽcan, meaning "kill".

Course

• The Nico Ditch runs for 6 mi (9.7 km) from Ashton Moss to Hough Moss.
• It passes through Denton, Reddish, Gorton, Levenshulme, Burnage, Rusholme, Platt Fields Park, Withington, and Chorlton-cum-Hardy.
• The ditch crosses four metropolitan boroughs in Greater Manchester.
• It marks parts of the boundaries between Stockport and Manchester, and Tameside and Manchester.
• Part of the ditch is now under the Audenshaw Reservoirs.
• The ditch may have stretched further west to Urmston.

History

• The ditch was built between the 5th and 11th centuries, after Roman rule and before the Norman conquest.
• Its purpose may have been for defense or as a boundary.
• It may have marked a 7th-century boundary for Anglo-Saxon expansion.
• It could have been a boundary between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria in the 8th or 9th century.
• The ditch has served as a boundary since the Middle Ages.
• Legend says the ditch was built in one night by Manchester residents to defend against Vikings in 869–870.
• Folklore suggests a battle at the ditch gave Gorton and Reddish their names, but this is historically inaccurate.
• Historians have studied the ditch since the 19th century, but much of it has been built over.
• Archaeological excavations from 1990 to 1997 aimed to determine the ditch's age and purpose.
• Excavations showed the bank north of the ditch is from the 20th century.
• The ditch has a U-shape, suggesting it was a territorial boundary marker.
• The project concluded that the ditch was likely a boundary marker.

Preservation

• The ditch is still visible in sections, measuring 4–5 yards (3.7–4.6 m) wide and up to 5 feet (1.5 m) deep.
• The best-preserved sections are in Denton Golf Course (330 yards/300 m) and Platt Fields Park.
• A 150-yard (140 m) segment in Platt Fields became a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1997.
• The rest of the ditch is unprotected.