Oxmoor and Givendale Dikes

The Oxmoor and Givendale Dikes preserve three connected prehistoric boundaries on the southern slopes of the Tabular Hills. Oxmoor Dikes has three ditches between four parallel banks, while Givendale Dike changes from a double-ditch arrangement to a single ditch farther south. Their junctions and changing forms provide evidence for an evolving system of land division. A round barrow beside Givendale Dike was levelled by ploughing, although its surrounding ditch remains visible as a cropmark. A medieval hollow way cuts through the older boundaries and may have linked the monastic settlements at Lastingham and Hackness. Later quarrying, a lime kiln and a former rabbit trap added further changes. Some sections survive prominently, while cultivation and forestry reduced others. The complex therefore records prehistoric construction followed by centuries of adaptation rather than one uninterrupted building episode. Period: Prehistoric; later medieval and post-medieval reuse Grid reference: SE 89723 87364, SE 88871 86105 Protection: Scheduled monument Source: Historic England, https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1020834 (Open Government Licence). © Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.