Lexden Dyke at Spring Meadow forms part of the extensive system of linear earthworks defining the western approaches to Camulodunum, the late Iron Age oppidum of the Trinovantes and Catuvellauni that became the Roman colonia of Colchester. The dykes were constructed in stages from the late 1st century BC through the early 1st century AD, with continued significance into the early Roman period; Lexden Dyke itself is one of the principal north–south defensive lines enclosing the territory between the Colne and Roman rivers.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
As part of the largest Iron Age earthwork complex in Britain, the Lexden Dyke system delimited the heartland of Cunobelin's kingdom and was the primary territorial boundary of the pre-Roman capital; following the Claudian conquest in AD 43 the dykes were partially incorporated into the defensive landscape of the legionary fortress and subsequent colonia.
The Lexden Dyke as a whole survives as a substantial bank-and-ditch earthwork investigated by Hawkes and Crummy among others, though the specific Spring Meadow stretch has seen only limited recorded intervention; nearby contemporary discoveries include the rich Lexden Tumulus burial (excavated 1924), which underlines the elite character of the surrounding landscape.
Lexden Dyke at Spring Meadow forms part of the extensive system of linear earthworks defining the western approaches to Camulodunum, the late Iron Age oppidum of the Trinovantes and Catuvellauni that became the Roman colonia of Colchester. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a settlement site from the Roman period in Britain.
Lexden Dyke at Spring Meadow: 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 Lexden Dyke Middle: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum and Romano-British town of Camulodunum (0.5 km), Roman barrow known as Lexden Mount: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum and Roman town of Camulodunum (0.7 km), The Triple Dyke: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum and Romano-British town of Camulodunum (1.1 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 Lexden Dyke at Spring Meadow: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum and Romano-British town of Camulodunum