Fleam Dyke

Fleam Dyke is an earthwork in eastern Cambridgeshire, England, generally assumed to be Anglo-Saxon of origin. As a few potsherds of the early and late Bronze age were found in the most eastern part of the dyke it seems that much older earthworks have been used. The archaeologist Prof. McKenny Hughes therefore preferred to speak of 'multi-period dykes'Fact|date=February 2007 while more recently Alison Taylor cautiously concluded that though most defensive dykes in Cambridgeshire have been shown to be Anglo-Saxon in their final phase, they often seem to be preceded by Iron Age works, and elsewhere in East Anglia they are commonly Iron Age in date. [A. Taylor, "Archaeology of Cambridgeshire", Vol. 2, 1998, Cambridgeshire Count Council, p.29]

The main surviving section of the dyke consists of a massive bank and ditch running 4 miles between Fulbourn and Balsham. There is also a section near Fen Ditton, or High Ditch, which acquired its name ("Dittone", meaning "the village by the ditch") from its proximity to the Dyke.

History

In the late 6th or early 7th century competition between neighbouring Saxon tribes was particularly fierce. It is believed that the dyke would have been used to demarcate the boundary of a tribe's influence as well as a barrier to the British tribes to the west.

At its creation, the chalk barrier ran from The Fens in the north-west to the clay woodlands in the south making circumvention difficult. Findings such as the small quantity of silt in the ditch fills also suggest that the dyke fell into disuse soon after it was built.

The dyke is one of several earthworks in south Cambridgeshire designed to control movement along the ancient Roman roads. The others include Devil's Dyke, Brent Ditch and Bran Ditch.

References

See also

* East Cambridgeshire
* Harcamlow Way