Nico Ditch: History and Purpose

• Nico Ditch is a 6 mi (9.7 km) long earthwork between Ashton-under-Lyne and Stretford, Greater Manchester.
• It may have been a defensive fortification or a boundary marker.
• The ditch dates back to the 5th to 11th centuries.
• Surviving sections measure 4–5 yards (3.7–4.6 m) wide and up to 5 feet (1.5 m) deep.
• A section is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Etymology

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

Course

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

History

• The earthwork was built between the 5th century and 1066.
• It may have been a defensive structure or a boundary.
• It possibly acted as a 7th-century boundary for Anglo-Saxon expansion.
• It could also have been a late 8th or early 9th century boundary between Mercia and Northumbria.
• Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, the Britons, and the Danes fought for control of North West England during the early medieval period.
• The ditch has served as a boundary since at least the Middle Ages.
• Legend says the inhabitants of Manchester built it in a single night to defend against Vikings in 869–870, potentially after Manchester was sacked by the Danes in 870.
• Each man was said to have constructed a section equal to his height.
• 19th-century folklore suggests a battle between Saxons and Danes occurred at the ditch.
• Supposedly giving Gorton and Reddish their names, but historians dismiss this.
• The names Gorton and Reddish actually mean "dirty farmstead" and "reedy ditch" respectively.
• Historians have studied the ditch since the 19th century, but much of it has been built over.
• Excavations from 1990–1997 sought to determine the ditch's age and purpose.
• Investigations showed the bank north of the ditch originated in the 20th century.
• The ditch's U-shape suggests it was a territorial boundary, not a military defense.
• The project concluded that the ditch was likely a boundary marker.

Preservation

• The ditch has been heavily weathered, but short sections are still visible.
• These sections can be 4–5 yards (3.7–4.6 m) wide and up to 5 feet (1.5 m) deep.
• The 330-yard (300 m) stretch in Denton Golf Course and the section in Platt Fields Park are the best-preserved.
• A 150-yard (140 m) segment in Platt Fields was protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1997.
• The remainder of the ditch is unprotected.