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Hug (or Hulkes) Ditch appears to have been the site of the court leet for Kintbury Eagle Hundred in the early 15th century.
The Victorian County History on the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle (Berkshire, iv p157) states "The three-weekly courts for Kintbury Eagle and Faircross Hundreds were held at Speen and the court leet for Kintbury Eagle at West Shefford".
Tradition assigns the site of the court leet to a place on the boundary between Hungerford and West Shefford, where a pollard ash formerly grew (Parl. Surv. Berks. no. 5.).
The court was afterwards transferred to Hug Ditch Court in East Shefford. (Bibl. Topog. Brit. iv (16), 52; Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, i, 209. An indictment before the Sheriff of Berkshire took place at Hulkesdiche in 1442 (Cal. Pat. 1441-6, p. 253).
Hug Ditch can be seen on the map in the Photo Gallery:
Photo Gallery:
Map of East Shefford, showing "Hug Ditch Court (site of)" and "Saxon Cemetery (Site of)" from "Saxon graveyard at East Shefford Berks" by Harold Peake and E A Hooton (published by Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 1915)
- Map of East Shefford, showing "Hug Ditch Court (site of)" and "Saxon Cemetery (Site of)" from "Saxon graveyard at East Shefford Berks" by Harold Peake and E A Hooton (published by Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 1915).
The Canal Wharf, 2011