Devil's Dyke, Cambridgeshire
| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 |
|
| Area of Search | Cambridgeshire |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | TL 612 619 |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 39.8 hectares |
| Notification | 1984 |
| Location map | Magic Map |
Devil's Dyke or Devil's Ditch is a 39.8 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Cambridgeshire. It runs in an almost straight line from Woodditton south of Newmarket to Reach north-west of Newmarket. It is also a Special Area of Conservation and a Scheduled Monument.
Devil's Dyke is over 7 miles (11 km) long and is the largest of a series of ancient Cambridgeshire dykes. In some places the bank measures 9 metres (30 ft) high and 36.5 metres (120 ft) across. Its highest point is at Gallows Hill where it measures 10.5 metres (34 ft) from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the earth wall.
Since the 19th century a railway line and roads have been cut through the dyke, including the combined A14 and A11 roads, and a branch line of the Ipswich to Ely rail line.
From Reach, the dyke crosses farmland, before running along the edge of the July Course at Newmarket Racecourse and then through the woods of a private estate near the village of Woodditton. The Rowley Mile course is unusual in that it can have races which start in one county, Cambridgeshire, and finish in another, Suffolk. It crosses the Devil's Dyke where it has been previously levelled.
Devil's Dyke is the largest of several earthworks in south Cambridgeshire that were designed to control movement along the ancient Roman roads. When it was created, it completely blocked a narrow land corridor between the southern edge of a region of water-logged marsh (now known as The Fens) in the north-west and dense woodlands in the south, so making circumvention difficult and forming an effective defensive barrier for the lands to the east. The dyke crossed three important Roman roads, including the ancient Icknield Way, and may thus have served as a way of controlling trade and movement in and out of the area. Findings such as the small quantity of silt in the ditch fills suggest that the dyke fell into disuse soon after it was built.
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