Gryme's Dyke Middle is a section of Gryme's (Grim's) Dyke, the westernmost of the great linear earthworks defining the Iron Age territorial oppidum of Camulodunum (modern Colchester). Constructed in the Late Iron Age, probably in the early-to-mid 1st century AD under the Trinovantian/Catuvellaunian dynasty of Cunobelin, it continued in use into the Roman period and marked the outer western boundary of the oppidum's protected zone, which after AD 49 lay behind the colonia of Camulodunum.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
As part of the most extensive system of pre-Roman linear earthworks in Britain, Gryme's Dyke helped channel movement and define a politically and economically central native power centre that the Romans inherited and transformed into the first colonia of the province. The dykes likely retained a territorial or jurisdictional function under Roman administration rather than serving any active military role.
The dyke survives as a substantial bank-and-ditch earthwork, investigated piecemeal since Hawkes and Crummy's surveys (notably the 1930s Camulodunum volume and Philip Crummy's later Colchester Archaeological Trust work), which established its profile, sequence and relationship to other dykes such as Triple Dyke and Prettygate. Specific excavation of the "Middle" segment has been limited, primarily comprising sectioning to confirm construction profile and
Gryme's Dyke Middle is a section of Gryme's (Grim's) Dyke, the westernmost of the great linear earthworks defining the Iron Age territorial oppidum of Camulodunum (modern Colchester). It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a settlement site from the Roman period in Britain.
Gryme's Dyke Middle: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum and Romano-British town of Camulodunum is classified as a Roman settlement — a civilian site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including The Triple Dyke: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum and Romano-British town of Camulodunum (0.6 km), Gryme's Dyke at Stanway Green: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum and Romano-British town of Camulodunum (0.9 km), Roman barrow known as Lexden Mount: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum and Roman town of Camulodunum (1 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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Research the area around Gryme's Dyke Middle: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum and Romano-British town of Camulodunum