Nico Ditch

Nico Ditch.
Nico Ditch is a six-mile-long (9.7 km) linear earthwork between Ashton-under-Lyne and Stretford in Greater Manchester, England. It was dug as a defensive fortification, or possibly a boundary marker, between the 5th and 11th centuries. The earliest documented reference to the ditch is in a charter detailing the granting of land in Audenshaw to the monks of the Kersal Cell. In the document, dating from 1190 to 1212, the earthwork is referred to as "Mykelldiche", and a magnum fossatum, Latin for "large ditch". Despite heavy weathering, it is still visible in short sections, which can be 4–5 yards (3.7–4.6 m) wide and up to 5 feet (1.5 m) deep. A 330-yard (300 m) stretch through Denton Golf Course and a section running through Platt Fields Park are considered the best-preserved remains. In 1997, a segment of the ditch in Platt Fields was protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The rest of the ditch remains unprotected.