Now this has sunk in a bit, I realise that the news has actually really upset me, it's stupid feeling proprietorial about a 1,000 year old earthwork that I've only fleetingly walked along, but it feels like a little bit of my past has been cut out. Stupid I know. But not as stupid as this thoughtless, selfish, irredeemable action.
"Destroy the inconvenience first, worry later" seems to be the attitude behind this and Priddy.
As to his ignorance of the dyke, there are enough pointers to its existence, both on the ground and on any map you care to look at, that it doesn't hold any real credibility. And it also would require not only him not to know, but also the seller not to know what he was selling or at least not mention it - presumably in the knowledge that a building was intended for the piece of land in question. So they may both be culpable.