Devil’s Punchbowl
The Devil’s Punchbowl is a large hollow, which according to legend , the Devil disappeared within after ploughing Grim’s Ditch (or Devil’s Ditch) across the Berkshire Downs.
Specific Location: Wantage
Segsbury Camp (aka Segsbury Castle and Letcombe Castle)
Segsbury Camp is a huge Iron Age hill fort, covering twenty seven acres, with a single perimeter bank and ditch. Dr Phené discovered a cist burial in the southern rampart during an excavation in 1871. Other finds include Roman coins, Iron Age pottery, a shield boss, human bones and flint scrapers.
Scutchamer Knob (Cwichelmslaewe)
Within a small woodland adjacent to the ancient Ridgeway path, where it crosses the parish of East Hendred, stands Scutchamer Knob. It is a raised earth mound and legend has it, that it is the burial mound of the Saxon king Cwichelm.
Wayland’s Smithy
Wayland’s Smithy is one of the most impressive and atmospheric Neolithic burial chambers in Britain. Somehow this ancient grave became associated with Wayland, the Saxon god of metalworking, from whom it takes its name.
History
Grims Ditches
Grims Ditches are a series of linear earthworks that stretch along part of the Berkshire border, to the Southeast of Wantage and Southwest of Chilton. The purpose of the ditches is not entirely clear but it is likely they had an enclosing function, to define land and protect it.
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