Bran Ditch: an Anglo-Saxon bank and ditch between Fowlmere and Heydon, including an Anglo-Saxon burial ground, a section of medieval lynchet and an Iron Age enclosure

Scheduled area

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History & significance

Bran Ditch is a linear earthwork of Anglo-Saxon date situated between Fowlmere and Heydon in Essex, comprising a substantial bank and ditch that survives as a prominent landscape feature. The monument encompasses multiple periods of use and activity, including an Iron Age enclosure, an Anglo-Saxon burial ground, and a section of medieval lynchet field system, demonstrating long-term occupation and exploitation of the site. The Anglo-Saxon bank and ditch represents a significant territorial or defensive boundary feature from the early medieval period, whilst the associated burial ground attests to contemporary settlement activity in the vicinity. The stratification of archaeological features from different periods provides evidence for the continuity and changing character of land use across more than a millennium.

Bran Ditch: an Anglo-Saxon bank and ditch between Fowlmere and Heydon, including an Anglo-Saxon burial ground, a section of medieval lynchet and an Iron Age enclosure is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1410907. View the official record →

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