Ponter's Ball Dyke is a linear earthwork located near

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It crosses, at right angles, an ancient road that continues on to the former island of dry land in the

Somerset levels The Somerset Levels are a coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England, running south from the Mendips to the Blackdown Hills. The Somerset Levels have an area of about and are bisected by the Polden Hills; the areas to the south ...

surrounding

Glastonbury Tor Glastonbury Tor is a hill near Glastonbury in the English county of Somerset, topped by the roofless tower of St Michael's Church, a Grade I Listed building (United Kingdom), listed building. The site is managed by the National Trust and has be ...

. It consists of an embankment with a ditch on the east side. It is built across the ridge of land between Glastonbury and

West Pennard West Pennard (or West Pennard Manor) is a village and civil parish east of Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town ...

. Both ends of the ditch and dyke disappear into moorland, formerly swamps. The current visible remains extend to just over 1 kilometre. It is bisected by the A361 and crossed by three public footpaths. The gap where the road runs through the dyke is staggered, suggesting that the gap is original.

History

It was excavated in 1909 by Arthur Bulleid, and again in 1970 by Peter Poyntz Wright and the Glastonbury Antiquarian Society. Bulleid's excavation just north of the road revealed that the bank was 9 feet high and made of layers of yellow and grey clay, while the ditch was 12 feet deep in hard blue

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, Clay minerals, clays, and silt. When Lithification, hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. M ...

. Neither excavation found significant objects with the exception of fragmentary pottery of prehistoric and medieval origin. Interpretation of the site is not clear. It is possible that it was part of a longer defensive barrier associated with New Ditch three miles to the south-west which is built in a similar manner. It has been suggested that it is part of a great Celtic sanctuary, probably 3rd century B.C., while others date it to the post-Roman period and connect it with the

Dark Age The ''Dark Ages'' is a term for the Early Middle Ages (–10th centuries), or occasionally the entire Middle Ages (–15th centuries), in Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which characterises it as marked by economic, int ...

occupation on Glastonbury Tor. David Cooper posits that it was the site of the Battle of ''Posentesbyrg'', fought in AD 661 between Cenwalh of Wessex and

Wulfhere of Mercia Wulfhere or Wulfar (died 675) was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of North ...

. The 1970 excavation suggests the 12th century or later. Using LiDAR data of the area to simulate rising sea levels suggests the ditch once ran into marshy land (likely prior to the effective digging of drainage channels). This goes some way to explaining its limited extent. It is also claimed that Ponter’s Ball delineates the long single horn on the head of the Capricorn effigy in the Temple of the Stars, an alleged ancient temple thought to be situated around Glastonbury.

Nomenclature

The name Ponter's Ball is said to be derived from "pontis vallum", Latin meaning "the bridge over the ditch." In the early 19th century it was called Ponting's Ball and by 1876 Fronter's Ball. An alternative of Portarius after a family who owned land at Havyatt.

References

{{Reflist Archaeological sites in Somerset Ancient dikes Glastonbury Scheduled monuments in Mendip District Linear earthworks