Bokerley Dyke is a Romano-British

Romano-British

Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people of Celtic language and...

 defensive ditch in north east Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, near the villages of Woodyates

Woodyates

Woodyates is a small hamlet, sometimes considered a village, in the county of Dorset, near its border with Wiltshire, in the west of England.-History:...

 and Pentridge

Pentridge

Pentridge is a village in north east Dorset, England, situated on Cranborne Chase on the A354 road ten miles north east of Blandford Forum and twelve miles south west of Salisbury. The village has a population of 215...

. The ditch ran for several miles, cutting across the Roman Road

Roman road

The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...

 between Old Sarum

Old Sarum

Old Sarum is the site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury, in England. The site contains evidence of human habitation as early as 3000 BC. Old Sarum is mentioned in some of the earliest records in the country...

 and Badbury Rings

Badbury Rings

Badbury Rings is an Iron Age hill fort in east Dorset, England, dating from 800 BC and in use until the Roman occupation of 43 AD.-Iron Age:...

 on the Cranborne Chase

Cranborne Chase

Cranborne Chase is a Chalk plateau in central southern England, straddling the counties Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire. The plateau is part of the English Chalk Formation and is adjacent to Salisbury Plain and the West Wiltshire Downs in the north, the Dorset Downs to the south west and the...

 ridgeway. Dated to 367 CE

Common Era

Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...

, it was constructed to keep the Saxon invaders out of Dorset. The dyke is thought to have been successful, allowing the Romano-British people to survive in Dorset for almost 200 years after the Roman

Roman Britain

Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

 occupation officially ended.

When Bokerley Dyke fell in the second half of the 6th century the defensive line moved back to Combs Ditch, 30 miles south-west, but this fell soon afterwards and the Saxons moved on to Dorchester.

Bokerley Dyke is continuous with Grim's Ditch

Grim's Ditch

Grim's Ditch, Grim's Dyke or Grim's Bank is a name shared by a number of prehistoric bank and ditch earthworks...

 which runs into Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

.

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