The Archaeological Priority Area covers Newe Ditch which is a Scheduled Monument and an area surrounding Riddlesdown Road and its junction with Mitchley Avenue where Anglo-Saxon burials have been found. The APA is classed as Tier 1 because it covers a Scheduled Monument while the Saxon burials are part of a cemetery that is an undesignated asset judged equivalent to a Scheduled Monument.
Newe Ditch is a bank and ditch that runs in a south-west to north-east direction across the north-western edge of Riddlesdown. The scheduled area covers the bank and ditch between Riddlesdown Road and Famet Close, a length of approximately 200 metres. However, the scheduled area should not be regarded as the limit of the ditch’s extent since it continues beyond Riddlesdown Road into Coombes Wood.
There are a number of other linear features on Riddlesdown which are less discernible which include a ditch that runs along the north side of a footpath that emerges from Famet Close and another ditch which runs downhill from Downs Court Road. It is possible that all these were once part of a single interconnecting feature of which the Newe Ditch is the most obvious visible part.
The precise age of the ditch has never been conclusively established although it has often been referred to as a Bronze Age feature. Its purpose is also unclear. It is situated to the north-west of the highest part of Riddlesdown where a prehistoric settlement may have been located and it may have been part of an enclosure for that settlement. However, no trace of such a settlement has been found and neither has any other part of the ditch and bank although various other ditches on Riddlesdown may have been different parts of an encircling feature. Since it is not high enough to serve any meaningful defensive purpose it may have been constructed as a territorial boundary marker.
On an OS map from 1868 the ditch is marked as “Newedich or Widedich” and consists of three sets of banks and ditches but on this map the feature is not shown continuing further north-east into Coombes Wood. By the 1930s two of the three sets of banks and ditches had been removed by housing built along Riddlesdown Road and Downs Court Road although traces of the banks and ditches may still exist in the gardens of these houses. At least eight skeletons were found when Mitchley Avenue and Riddlesdown Road were being constructed in the late 1920s. They were between what is now the junction
28 between the two roads and the gardens of 154, 156 and 158 Riddlesdown Road. A knife was found with one of the burials which dated them to the Saxon period although few other grave goods were recovered which could indicate that these burials were Christian. Further burials have since been discovered including three from the garden of 119 Riddlesdown Road.
In April 2014 a number of human bones were recovered from underneath the front driveway of 176 Riddlesdown Road during building work and were radiocarbon dated to between 670 and 775 AD. It therefore seems clear that an Anglo-Saxon cemetery was located in what is now Riddlesdown Road although its precise extent is unknown and would be difficult to establish. Other Anglo-Saxon cemeteries have been found in high areas of Croydon such as Farthing Down although whether the Riddlesdown Road burials had any relationship with Newe Ditch is unknown.
The potential Anglo-Saxon cemetery on Russell Hill is situated close to Mere Bank which may be another prehistoric boundary feature and perhaps these Saxon burials were also placed here because of the proximity to Newe Ditch.
Newe Ditch is a significant visible feature within the landscape worthy of scheduling. Its precise purpose and age is currently unknown but understanding its relationship with other features on Riddlesdown may help to clarify its role and what sort of prehistoric activity it may have been related to. While the Newe Ditch and Anglo-Saxon cemetery may not have been contemporaneous the siting of the cemetery here may still have been linked to the ditch and its potential role as a boundary marker.
Further burials close to Riddlesdown Road are possible which could provide information on the people being buried there. This information could also reflect the religious beliefs, social hierarchy and the general health of the local population during the Anglo-Saxon period. Further burials may also help to establish the limits of the cemetery and the potential burial population.
References
Guide to Local Antiquities, Michael Farley, The Bourne Society, 1973
Anglo-Saxon Surrey, J. Morris, Surrey Archaeological Collections, Vol. 56, 1959
Source: https://www.croydon.gov.uk/sites/default/files/articles/downloads/archaeological-priority-pt2.pdf
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