Aberford Dykes

The Aberford Dykes are a series of archaeological monuments located around the valley of the Cock Beck, where it runs just north of the village of Aberford on the border between North and West Yorkshire, England. The complex consists of three individual earthworks; Becca Banks/the Ridge, the South Dyke, and Woodhouse Moor Rein.

Becca Banks/the Ridge is the principal monument in the group. This runs for nearly 3 miles on a mostly east-west course along the north side of the Cock Beck valley. It consists of a bank with a ditch situated on its southern (downslope) side. A slight natural scarp slope is exploited in the positioning of the bank above the ditch, and the top of the bank would have stood up to 7.6m above the base of the ditch.

The other two monuments are located on the south side of the Cock Beck valley, and do not share the strong defensive characteristics of Becca Banks/the Ridge. For instance, the ditch of the South Dyke lies on the upslope side of its bank.