The War Ditches, Cherry Hinton Chalk Pits, Cambridge
UPDATE: April 2024 - War Ditches Report Attached at the end.
I thought I'd give you a little information about the War Ditches, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge, as I am publishing my book on the site soon and so little is publicly known about the history of the site.
The War Ditches is an iron age hill fort site in Cherry Hinton, southeast of Cambridge City. The site, now almost completely destroyed by chalk quarrying, sits at the top of the most north westerly point of the Gog Magog Hills, on Lime Kiln Hill. The whole site has been occupied since prehistory and all periods are represented by activity on and around the immediate area. Today the site is within the old chalk quarry, now officially called 'East Pit'. It is managed by Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust and is open to the public for free.
The War Ditches is the local name for the circular hill fort, although a rather misleading name in that it doesn’t clearly describe what it actually is, it was so called because the large circular ditch of the defensive fort had partially filled in, in sections, over the many hundreds of years since its last use, leading it to have the appearance of several ditches rather than a single, continuously circular ditch. Human remains being found at the site over many years, eventually lead to the site being known as the War Ditches.
Back in 2008 I was out for a walk with my sister and my daughter, we were climbing around in the local chalk pits, which were, back then, a bit wild and not really managed. Us locals would go there to walk, play and explore the massive open chalk pits, which made you feel like you were in some jurassic time slip. Many people in the area today still do not know of this amazing site and if they stumble across it they are amazed it is there.
Anyway, back in 2008 on our walk at the chalk pits, we were up on the cliff side (you can't go up on the cliffs anymore!), we were sitting in a small dip and as I poked about in the mud, hand fulls of amazing ancient pottery sherds started to come out. I was Parish Archaeological Warden at the time and knew the history of the area well. We were sitting on the edge of the cliff where chalk quarrying had made a massive deep area and cut away all that had been there previously (see pictures).
In the late 1800's there had been reports of all kinds of things being discovered on the site and over the years various excavations had taken place alongside the ever encroaching quarrying - all manner of amazing well known antiquarians had been to and worked at the site over the years. The main discovery was that of the 'War Ditches' - a roughly circular ring ditch which was described as being an Iron Age Hill Fort, that had once dominated the top of Lime Kiln Hill - something like that of its neighbour of Wandlebury which is still preserved today, a couple of miles to the south west.
There had been various reports written about the site and the excavations that took place over the years and when the quarrying at the site had finished in the 1970's, the War Ditches was thought to have been finally and fully destroyed by the quarrying, it was written up in books and histories stating that fact.
However, I was now armed with a bag full of beautiful pottery sherds dating from the late Iron Age, Romano-British and Roman periods. I knew the position of where the War Ditches had been and I also knew that where we had been sitting, in that small dip on the cliff side could only be one thing - an unknown remaining part of the War Ditches.....
I quickly phoned my two friends and colleagues Mark Hinman & Richard Mortimer, both of who take an interest in the archaeology of this area, and told them what I had discovered and then drove the bag of pottery over to them for them to have a look. A lot of things happened fairly fast after that. Firstly, we found that the site was in the process of being acquired by Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust from one of the Cambridge Colleges. Then it turned out that the chap involved with the Wildlife Trust and the acquisition of the site, lived close by. So Mark and I had an emergency meeting with him, at the top of Lime Kiln Hill where we explained what had been discovered. Mark moved quickly, explaining that a full and official archaeological excavation would be needed. Terms were negotiated between The Wildlife Trust, English Heritage and others and the business of the full archaeological excavation was taken on by Oxford Archaeology East (based in Bar Hill Cambridge, this company used to be Cambridgeshire County Council Archaeological Unit). Mark and I also approached Cambridge Antiquarian Society (of which we were both council members of at the time) to tell them of the discovery. Many of the past excavations at the site had been published by the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, since the 19th Century.
While negotiations and preparations for the archaeological excavation were taking place, I then had a phone call from the Cambridge Archaeology Office to tell me that two young boys who had been playing up at the chalk pits had found some human leg bones which had fallen out of the cliff, it wasn't clear which part of the chalk pits these bones were found - it could have been anywhere along the entire cliff. I was asked to pop down to the archaeology lab in Downing Street, Cambridge and collect the bones. A odd experience, which involved me collecting a pair of leg bones in a wooden box, which I then strapped into the front passenger seat of my car. I decided that the best thing was, that as Oxford Archaeology would be carrying out the main excavation on site, that I would deliver the legs to them to be processed by their finds department - even though they may not have fallen out of the actual War Ditches ring ditch itself, they still came from the same area.
In 2010, the full excavation began in the chalk pits - this was something new for everyone, not least because Cambridgeshire is not known for its high hills or mountains but this excavation was on top of a cliff, so the archaeologists had to be trained in cliff side excavation and safety. A large scale scaffolding unit had to be erected next to the cliff to allow us to access the site safely and training in harness wearing was required for some.
Obviously there is so much I want to write about what was found and the whole history the site but for now, I just wanted you to know what had taken place at the chalk pits because so many people have no idea that this site is there or anything about what happened. I will publish the book later this year and you'll be able to find out all the details of what was found both during this excavation and in the past at the site.
At the end of the excavation in 2010, an open day was held in the chalk pits. The Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust now owned the site and had called this large chalk pit 'East Pit'. The mayor, press and public were invited to come and see the site and find out what had been taking place. Here are some more pictures from that day and the excavations 2010.
Since the Wildlife Trust has taken over the site it has become a nature reserve and it is open to the public. There are also some display boards at the site for you to read.
As part of the excavation I was commissioned by English Heritage to write a report on the background and history of the site as part of the research into the site and subsequent write up of this new excavation. I took the opportunity to have a picture taken, to use for the cover of my report, with Mark and Richard, that mirrored a photograph of three of the antiquarians from the past, that had had a similar picture taken, it was a proud moment to be following in their footsteps.
Since the Wildlife Trust has taken over the site it has become a nature reserve and it is open to the public. There are also some display boards at the site for you to read.
As part of the excavation I was commissioned by English Heritage to write a report on the background and history of the site as part of the research into the site and subsequent write up of this new excavation. I took the opportunity to have a picture taken, to use for the cover of my report, with Mark and Richard, that mirrored a photograph of three of the antiquarians from the past, that had had a similar picture taken, it was a proud moment to be following in their footsteps.
March 2024:
I have attached my report on the War Ditches below and in the downloads section in the main menu.
This report is currently undergoing review and preparation for publication. As a temporary measure, it is provided here as a draft PDF for your reference and fair use. I believe it is essential to make such material available rather than risk it never seeing the light of day due to protracted publication processes or ongoing research endeavors, which may continue indefinitely if not managed carefully. Originally authored in 2010, it is high time that the valuable information and research contained within be accessible to others. I intend to update and refine it further before its final publication. I trust you will find it both informative and engaging in the interim.
You can download the PDF report by clicking the button below:
Comments:
Iain Crawford
27/2/2021 11:31:45 pm
Thanks - that's really interesting.
That must have given you a real buzz when you discovered that remaining part of the War Ditches.
Michelle Bullivant
1/3/2021 01:25:35 pm
Hi Iain, thanks, yes it was great - I love all the small events and things that happen in life which then turn into grand adventures or discoveries :)
david
29/10/2021 10:18:20 pm
do you have a pdf of your war ditches report that you could email me ? i am interested in my local area , thanks ...also did you write a book ?
Michelle Bullivant
2/11/2021 11:36:47 am
Dear David, I will be adding the PDF version of the War Ditches report, mentioned above, onto this site in the new year, so that it is available for download and the book on the War Ditches should be finished and published by next summer. I will send you an email to let you know when these are available to access. Hope that helps,
Many thanks
Michelle
Dave
2/11/2021 12:29:32 pm
Thanks Michelle i look forward to them