Ancient monument to be partially destroyed by HS2

An ariel view of an artist's impression of what the line could look like running through Grim's Ditch

An ancient monument will be partially destroyed to allow construction of part of HS2.

Buckinghamshire Council said it had given consent to HS2 Ltd's proposal for part of the high speed rail route to pass through the Iron Age site of Grim's Ditch near Great Missenden.

It was initially estimated 150m (492ft) of the monument would be removed by the railway but the approved proposals have reduced that to about 75m. (246ft)

The authority said this has been done by introducing walls which retain the ancient monument either side of the railway.

'Regret'

Grim's Ditch is an 18km earthwork found between Bradenham and Berkhamstead and is thought to date back to between 800BC and 43AD.

The council added it worked with Historic England on details of the proposal to save as much of the monument as possible.

Peter Martin, deputy cabinet member for HS2 said: “Whilst we are pleased that less of Grim’s Ditch will be impacted by the HS2 line passing through the area and that valuable archaeological information can be retrieved during the works, we bitterly regret that damage will be done to any part of this ancient monument.

"Any potential adverse effects on the landscape character of the area would at least secure benefits to the scheduled monument and, on balance, the council had to give consent for the proposed works.”