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Grey Ditch
On the northern fringe of Bradwell is a substantial length of furrow accompanying a grassy mound which runs right across the valley from Rebellion Knoll to Mich Low. This is the remains of ‘Grey Ditch’ which dates back hundreds of years to the Dark Ages when it was probably constructed as a territorial division and defence between the tribes of Mercia and Northumbria, similar in nature to Offa’s Dyke between England and Wales, and probably controlled the northern advance of the Anglian settlers from the south. Grey Ditch pass the New Bath Inn which it is said takes its name from a nearby thermal spring.
Grey Ditch lies at right-angles to the earlier Roman road of Batham Gate and is almost a mile long, although there are now many gaps caused by farming and development. Excavations have shown that the bank was about 8m wide at the base and reached a height of 1.2m. It is thought that Bradwell or Broad Wall took its name from the Grey Ditch, although a more plausible theory is that it originated from the ‘Broad Stream’ which runs through the village.
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