Nico Ditch: History and Purpose

• Nico Ditch is a 6 mi (9.7 km) long earthwork in Greater Manchester, stretching from Ashton-under-Lyne to Stretford.
• It was built between the 5th and 11th centuries.
• It may have been a defensive fortification or a boundary marker.
• Sections of the ditch remain visible, with a well-preserved 330-yard (300 m) stretch at Denton Golf Course.
• Surviving parts of the ditch measure 4–5 yards (3.7–4.6 m) in width and up to 5 feet (1.5 m) in depth.
• A portion of Nico Ditch is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Etymology

• The ditch was first referenced between 1190 and 1212 in a charter granting land in Audenshaw to Kersal Cell monks.
• The charter referred to it as "Mykelldiche" and magnum fossatum (Latin for "large ditch").
• The name Nico became common in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• Nico may come from the Anglo-Saxon Hnickar, a water spirit, but is more likely a corruption of Mykelldiche.
• The Anglo-Saxon word micel means "big" or "great".
• Another possibility is that Nico comes from nǽcan, an Anglo-Saxon verb meaning "kill".

Course

• Nico Ditch spans from Ashton Moss (SJ909980) in Ashton-under-Lyne to Hough Moss (SJ82819491) east of Stretford.
• It traverses Denton, Reddish, Gorton, Levenshulme, Burnage, Rusholme, Platt Fields Park, Withington, and Chorlton-cum-Hardy.
• The ditch crosses four metropolitan boroughs in present-day Greater Manchester.
• It aligns with the boundaries of Stockport and Manchester, as well as Tameside and Manchester.
• It extends to the Denton golf course.
• Part of the ditch is now submerged beneath the Audenshaw Reservoirs, constructed in the late 19th century.
• It may have originally extended west beyond Stretford towards Urmston (SJ78299504).

History

• The earthwork's construction took place between the end of Roman rule in Britain (early 5th century) and the Norman conquest (1066).
• Its original purpose is not definitively known, with possibilities including defensive use or administrative boundary demarcation.
• It may have marked a 7th-century boundary for the Anglo-Saxons or a border between Mercia and Northumbria in the late 8th or early 9th century.
• During the early medieval period, Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex competed for control of North West England.
• Since the Middle Ages, the ditch has been used as a boundary.
• Legend says the ditch was built in a single night by Mancunians to defend against Viking invaders in 869–870.
• Each man was assigned an area to dig and build a bank equal to his height.
• 19th-century folklore suggested a battle between Saxons and Danes occurred at the ditch but historians dismiss this.
• The names Gorton and Reddish do not originate from "Gore Town" and "Red-Ditch" and derive from "dirty farmstead" and "reedy ditch".
• Antiquarians and historians have shown interest in the ditch since the 19th century but much of it has been built over.
• Between 1990 and 1997, the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit excavated sections of the ditch to determine its age and purpose.
• These investigations revealed that the bank north of the ditch originated in the 20th century.
• The U-shaped profile of the ditch suggests it was a territorial boundary marker.
• It was concluded that the ditch was most likely a boundary marker.

Preservation

• Despite weathering, short sections of the ditch are still visible, measuring 4–5 yards (3.7–4.6 m) wide and up to 5 feet (1.5 m) deep.
• The 330-yard (300 m) stretch through Denton Golf Course and the section in Platt Fields Park are the best-preserved remains.
• A 150-yard (140 m) segment of the ditch in Platt Fields was protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1997.
• The rest of the ditch is not protected.