Dead Woman's Ditch is an important feature of the historic Quantock Hills. The origin of the ditch is thought to be Iron Age, possibly a fortification linked in with Dowsborough Hill Fort
The Iron Age Dowsborough covers a significant area and is enclosed by an improvised ditch and rampart. About 2000 years ago Celtic people would have used the hill fort when threatened. It is now covered by Sessile Oak woodland, which has 'invaded' from the valley below.
Dowsborough Camp (or Danesborough or Dawesbury) is an Iron Age hill fort on the Quantock Hills near Nether Stowey in Somerset.
The site is at a height of 340 m on an easterly spur from the main Quantock ridge, with views north to the Bristol Channel, and east over the valley of the River Parrett.
The fort has an oval shape, with a single rampart and ditch following the contours of the hill top, enclosing an area of 2.7 ha. The main entrance is to the east, towards Nether Stowey, with a simpler opening to the north-west, aligned with a ridgeway leading down to Holford. The Lady's Fountain springs are in the combe to the west. A col to the south connects the hill to the main Stowey ridge, where a linear earthwork known as Dead Woman's Ditch cuts across the spur. This additional rampart would have provided an extra line of defence against attack from the main Quantock ridge to the west, and it could have been a tribal boundary.
To the south is Great Wood, a commercial forest managed since 1922, by the
Forestry Commission on land leased from Somerset County Council. Much of the forest is used for recreation (such as the BBQ site at Ramscombe) and the wildlife value of the area Is increasing through special management projects including heathland regeneration and the planting of native tree species.
The open hilltops and wooded combes to the north and west form the main Quantock
Common, the majority of which is designated as a
Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).The common is 18 square kilometers in size and is
made up of heathland and ancient Oak Woodland. These habitats are a haven for threatened British
wildlife including Dartford Warbler, Nightjar and
Adder and Red Deer.
Dead Woman's Ditch
Dead Woman's Ditch is where John Cannan dumped the body of Shirley Banks, a Bristol Estate Agent, after raping her and battering her to death in 1987.
John Walford followed the life of a charcoal burner on the Quantock Hills, a lonely existence but suited to this quiet, handsome lad. He was popular in the nearby village of Nether Stowey especially with Ann Rich, the miller's daughter; to whom he was betrothed. Against this background, Jane Thorney, the daughter of another charcoal burner, turned her attentions to young John. Under cover of darkness, she would visit his lonely hut on the hills offering him comfort. Inevitably she was expecting his child and John married her, leaving Ann with a broken heart.
Almost at once, married life became intolerable, Jane taunted John incessantly over the loss of his true love. This came back to a head on the night of July 5th, 1789 when after a heavy drinking session at the nearby Castle of Comfort Inn, she provoked him once too often. On their way home, he took her by the throat and squeezed the life out of her body. Seeing no one was around, he disposed of her body in a shallow grave in the remains of a Dead Woman's Ditch where her body was later discovered. John Walford's trial lasted just three hours.
On the day of his execution close to the scene of the crime, the villagers turned out with their picnics. With the gibbet ready for the execution, the horse and cart carrying John Walford arrived. His last request was to speak to Ann, his first and only true love. Ann was lifted onto the cart and the couple looked into each others eyes. As they moved forward to kiss, Ann was pulled away and lifted from the cart which was then pulled forward leaving John's body swinging. His remains were placed in a cage and left hanging from the gibbet for a full year. Dead Woman's Ditch and Walford's Gibbet can still be found on Ordnance Survey maps.
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