Car Dyke

England
List entry 1004960
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1004960
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
4 hectares
Grid reference
TF 12684 58315
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

Car Dyke is a linear earthwork of Roman date that runs for approximately five miles across the Lincolnshire fens, extending from near Waterloo to Walton in the parish of Walton-on-Trent. The dyke comprises a substantial bank with an accompanying ditch and appears to have functioned as a boundary or defensive line during the Roman period, likely dating to the first or second century AD. Its precise purpose remains debated among scholars, though it may have served to regulate movement across the fenland landscape or to mark the limits of Roman territorial control in the region. The monument survives as an upstanding earthwork in places, though its form has been considerably altered by subsequent agricultural activity and drainage schemes associated with the post-medieval reclamation of the fens.

Car Dyke is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1004960. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Car Dyke?

Car Dyke is a linear earthwork of Roman date that runs for approximately five miles across the Lincolnshire fens, extending from near Waterloo to Walton in the parish of Walton-on-Trent. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1004960.

Who is responsible for protecting Car Dyke?

Car Dyke is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1004960.

What other scheduled monuments are near Car Dyke?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Car Dyke W of Martin Wood (0.4 km), Car Dyke at Linwood Hall (2.6 km), Catley Priory (2.9 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Car Dyke

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Car Dyke's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Car Dyke

Car Dyke stands on Kellaways Formation And Oxford Clay Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Oxfordian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.