Grim's Ditch is a series of linear earthwork

Earthworks (archaeology)

In archaeology, earthwork is a general term to describe artificial changes in land level. Earthworks are often known colloquially as 'lumps and bumps'. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features or they can show features beneath the surface...

 in the Chilterns (southeast England). A complete outline can not be identified but separate sections exist over a 30 km span between Bradenham, Buckinghamshire

Bradenham, Buckinghamshire

Bradenham is a village and civil parish within Wycombe district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is near Saunderton, off the main A4010 road between Princes Risborough and High Wycombe.- Village :...

, Berkhamsted

Berkhamsted

-Climate:Berkhamsted experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Castle:...

, Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...

 and as far as Pitstone

Pitstone

Pitstone is a village and civil parish within the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is located at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, about seven miles east of Aylesbury and six miles south of Leighton Buzzard...

 and Ivinghoe

Ivinghoe

Ivinghoe is a village and civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England, close to the border with Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. It is four miles north of Tring and six miles south of Leighton Buzzard, close to the village of Pitstone.The village name is Anglo-Saxon in...

 Buckinghamshire. Pottery shards have been unearthed in excavations during the 1970s and '80s suggesting its origin may have been during the Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 and was believed to have been during a period when the landscape was clearer of scrub and the dense woodland as today as the straighter sections would have required clear lines-of-sight. The first mention of Grim's Ditch was a grant of 1170-90 in the Missenden

Missenden

Missenden may refer to:* Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England* Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England* Great Missenden railway station, Buckinghamshire, England* Missenden Abbey, Buckinghamshire, England...

 Cartulary referring to it as Grimesdic. The Anglo Saxons commonly named features of unexplained or mysterious origin, Grim. The word derives from the Norse word grimr meaning devil and a nickname for Odin

Odin

Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....

 or Wodin the God of War and Magic. Another mention is to be found in a 10th century Anglo Saxon

Old English language

Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...

 boundary charter for the Mongewell area.

Its size varies considerably. At Hastoe

Hastoe

Hastoe is a hamlet in the civil parish of Tring. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, 1.7m south of the town of Tring in the county of Hertfordshire and on the county boundary with Buckinghamshire....

 the ditch is 3.5m wide and 2m deep with a bank of 2m and an overall spread of 13.5m. The purpose of the earthwork is uncertain. It is thought by the Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...

 (1974) that it may be a set of local boundaries used to control the movement of cattle and carts and dating back to the Iron Age as no Anglo-Saxon event is connected with it. It is not seen as having a defensive structure due to the way that the banks have been constructed. It may in fact be a collection of structures with two or more purposes with the hilltop section near Cholesbury

Cholesbury

Cholesbury is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, on the border with Hertfordshire. It is situated in the Chiltern Hills, about east of Wendover, north of Chesham and from Berkhamsted....

 being associated with the nearby Iron Age Hillfort whilst other sections lower down towards Aylesbury Vale

Aylesbury Vale

The Aylesbury Vale is a large area of flat land mostly in Buckinghamshire, England. Its boundary is marked by Milton Keynes to the north, Leighton Buzzard and the Chiltern Hills to the east and south, Thame to the south and Bicester and Brackley to the west.The vale is named after Aylesbury, the...

 may demarcate areas where pig and cattle grazing occurred.

Route

Coordinates Geographic coordinate system A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on the Earth to be specified by a set of numbers. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represent vertical position, and two or three of the numbers represent horizontal position...	Grid reference British national grid reference system The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, different from using latitude and longitude....	nearby settlement
51.6719°N 0.7931°W		Bradenham Bradenham, Buckinghamshire Bradenham is a village and civil parish within Wycombe district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is near Saunderton, off the main A4010 road between Princes Risborough and High Wycombe.- Village :...
51.6936°N 0.8084°W		Lacey Green Lacey Green Lacey Green is a village and civil parish in Wycombe district near Princes Risborough, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the Chiltern Hills above the town....
51.7186°N 0.7875°W		Whiteleaf Whiteleaf, Buckinghamshire Whiteleaf is a hamlet in the civil parish of Princes Risborough and the ecclesiastical parish of Monks Risborough in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located 7 miles south of the county town of Aylesbury and 8 miles north of High Wycombe...
51.7120°N 0.7660°W		Great Hampden Great Hampden Great and Little Hampden is a civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, about three miles south-east of Princes Risborough. It incorporates the villages of Great Hampden and Little Hampden, and the hamlets of Green Hailey and Hampden Row...
51.7195°N 0.7107°W		Great Missenden Great Missenden Great Missenden is a large village in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover. It closely adjoins the villages of Little Missenden and Prestwood. The narrow High Street is bypassed by the main A413 London to...
51.7500°N 0.7026°W		The Lee Lee, Buckinghamshire Lee is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, about 2m north east of Great Missenden and 3m south east of Wendover. The Lee is also the name of a civil parish within Chiltern District...
51.7712°N 0.6629°W		Cholesbury Cholesbury Cholesbury is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, on the border with Hertfordshire. It is situated in the Chiltern Hills, about east of Wendover, north of Chesham and from Berkhamsted....
51.7762°N 0.6323°W		Wigginton Wigginton, Hertfordshire Wigginton is a large village and civil parish running north-south and perched at on the edge of the Chiltern Hills in the county of Hertfordshire and aside the border with Buckinghamshire...
51.7595°N 0.5864°W		Berkhamsted Berkhamsted -Climate:Berkhamsted experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Castle:...
51.7707°N 0.5469°W		Berkhamsted Berkhamsted -Climate:Berkhamsted experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Castle:...
51.7658°N 0.5138°W		Potten End Potten End Potten End is a village in west Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, two miles east-north-east of Berkhamsted, three miles north west of Hemel Hempstead and two miles south east of the National Trust estate of Ashridge. Nearby villages include Nettleden, Great Gaddesden and...