Nico Ditch: History and Purpose

• Nico Ditch is a 6 mi (9.7 km) long earthwork in Greater Manchester, England, stretching from Ashton-under-Lyne to Stretford.
• It was built between the 5th and 11th centuries.
• Nico Ditch may have served as a defensive fortification or a boundary marker.
• Surviving sections are 4–5 yards (3.7–4.6 m) wide and up to 5 feet (1.5 m) deep.
• A portion of the earthwork is a protected Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Etymology

• The earliest reference is in a charter (1190-1212) granting land in Audenshaw to Kersal Cell monks, calling it "Mykelldiche" and magnum fossatum ("large ditch" in Latin).
• The name Nico (or Nikker) became common in the 19th-20th century.
• Nico could be a corruption of Mykelldiche.
• The Anglo-Saxon word micel means "big" or "great".
• Another possible origin for "Nico" is the Anglo-Saxon word nǽcan, meaning "kill".

Course

• Nico Ditch runs from Ashton Moss (Ashton-under-Lyne) to Hough Moss (east of Stretford).
• It passes through Denton, Reddish, Gorton, Levenshulme, Burnage, Rusholme, Platt Fields Park, Withington, and Chorlton-cum-Hardy.
• The ditch crosses four present-day Greater Manchester metropolitan boroughs.
• It aligns with parts of the borders between Stockport and Manchester, and Tameside and Manchester.
• A section is now under the Audenshaw Reservoirs.
• The ditch may have originally extended west to Urmston.

History

• Nico Ditch was built between the end of Roman rule in Britain (early 5th century) and the Norman Conquest (1066).
• Its original purpose is uncertain, but possibilities include defense or administrative boundary.
• It may have marked a 7th-century boundary for Anglo-Saxon expansion, or a late 8th/early 9th century boundary between Mercia and Northumbria.
• During the early medieval period, Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex fought for control of North West England along with the Britons and Danes.
• Since the Middle Ages, the ditch has been used as a boundary.
• Legend says the inhabitants of Manchester built it in a single night as protection against Viking invaders in 869–870.
• Supposedly, each man had to dig a section and build a bank equal to his height.
• 19th-century folklore claimed a battle between Saxons and Danes occurred at the ditch, giving Gorton ("Gore Town") and Reddish ("Red-Ditch") their names.
• Historians dismiss this idea, as the names actually derive from "dirty farmstead" and "reedy ditch."
• Antiquarians and historians have studied the ditch since the 19th century.
• From 1990-1997, the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit excavated sections in Denton, Reddish, Levenshulme, and Platt Fields.
• These excavations aimed to determine its age and purpose.
• No construction date was established.
• Investigations revealed that the bank north of the ditch dates to the 20th century.
• The ditch's U-shape (rather than a V-shape) suggests it was a territorial boundary marker.
• The project concluded it was most likely a boundary marker.

Preservation

• Despite weathering, the ditch is still visible in short sections (up to 4–5 yards wide and 5 feet deep).
• The 330-yard stretch through Denton Golf Course and the section in Platt Fields Park are the best-preserved remains.
• A 150-yard segment in Platt Fields was protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1997.
• The rest of the ditch is unprotected.