Discover Grim’s Ditch

The incomplete sections total 18km between Bradenham and Berkhamsted, and it is Buckinghamshire’s longest, and largest, heritage asset.

To this day, we still don’t know why the ditches were created, but possible theories include being an ancient boundary maker or defence system.

Grim’s ditches are found all over the UK but primarily in chalk landscapes, like the Chilterns. The ditches in Buckinghamshire were likely built during the Middle Bronze Age to Iron Age, the same time as many Chilterns hillforts.

There are many folk stories associated with Grim’s Ditch. One legend says a giant named Grim carved a trench one night to keep human settlers away. As with many giant legends, Grim could only work at night and failed to finish the ditch by sunrise. The legend says he disappeared into the morning mist, never to be seen again, leaving behind the mighty ditch that would be known as Grim’s Ditch.