The Bran Ditch
The Bran Ditch was awarded scheduled monument status in 2012. The information below explains what this means and shows a map of the area.
Link to Historic England listing - click here
Heydon village stands on the high escarpment of chalk and glacial till (also known as boulder clay) that generally defines the boundary between Essex and Cambridgeshire. From a height of about 140 metres (460 feet) above sea level, the parish sweeps down to about 40 metres (130 feet) at its northern boundary.
Archaeological evidence suggests that this was an important location nearly 2,000 years ago. The parish is crossed by the Icknield Way, a broad and ancient trackway that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire, the Harcamlow Way and also by Bran Ditch, a 3-mile defensive earthwork. The date of origin of both features is uncertain.
Bran Ditch, shown here, runs in an almost straight line northwest from Heydon village towards Fowlmere and is believed to be part of the defensive network known as the Cambridgeshire Dykes. Bran Ditch and adjacent sites were scheduled as an Ancient Monument only in 2012. The English Heritage citation explains that the ditch and bank is probably post-Roman, probably Anglo-Saxon, built by the early Germanic settlers to deter British incursion from the west. The earthwork is followed for some distance out of Heydon village by the Harcamlow & Icknield Way long-distance paths. It is not always apparent although it is still up to two metres high and 12 metres wide in places. Just beyond Heydon’s northern boundary, in Fowlmere, archaeologists found an Anglo-Saxon burial ground beside Bran Ditch. The 60 bodies had all met a violent death and it is believed they had suffered punishment as criminals, rather than been victims of battle.
The Icknield Way Path or Icknield Way Trail is a long distance footpath in East Anglia, England. The ancient Icknield Way itself is unique among long-distance trails because it can claim to be ‘the oldest road in Britain’. It consists of prehistoric pathways, ancient when the Romans came; the route is dotted with archaeological remains. It survives today in splendid tracks and green lanes along the ‘chalk spine’ of southern England.
The Harcamlow Way is a figure-of-eight long distance walk, mainly on tracks and green lanes passing many places of historic interest, crossing low hills, woods and arable land via Standon and Manuden to meet the cross-over point at Newport. It continues through Saffron Walden and over the low Bartlow Hills to Horseheath and the Fleam Dyke, to enter Cambridge, the return route passing through Melbourn and Chrishall to Newport, continuing via Debden, Thaxted, Takeley and Hatfield Forest. Originally devised in the 1970s by Fred Matthews and Harry Bitten.
Link to Icknield Way details: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icknield_Way
Link to Harcamlow Way details: wikishire.co.uk/wiki/Harcamlow_Way
Link to Historic England listing - click here
Heydon village stands on the high escarpment of chalk and glacial till (also known as boulder clay) that generally defines the boundary between Essex and Cambridgeshire. From a height of about 140 metres (460 feet) above sea level, the parish sweeps down to about 40 metres (130 feet) at its northern boundary.
Archaeological evidence suggests that this was an important location nearly 2,000 years ago. The parish is crossed by the Icknield Way, a broad and ancient trackway that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire, the Harcamlow Way and also by Bran Ditch, a 3-mile defensive earthwork. The date of origin of both features is uncertain.
Bran Ditch, shown here, runs in an almost straight line northwest from Heydon village towards Fowlmere and is believed to be part of the defensive network known as the Cambridgeshire Dykes. Bran Ditch and adjacent sites were scheduled as an Ancient Monument only in 2012. The English Heritage citation explains that the ditch and bank is probably post-Roman, probably Anglo-Saxon, built by the early Germanic settlers to deter British incursion from the west. The earthwork is followed for some distance out of Heydon village by the Harcamlow & Icknield Way long-distance paths. It is not always apparent although it is still up to two metres high and 12 metres wide in places. Just beyond Heydon’s northern boundary, in Fowlmere, archaeologists found an Anglo-Saxon burial ground beside Bran Ditch. The 60 bodies had all met a violent death and it is believed they had suffered punishment as criminals, rather than been victims of battle.
The Icknield Way Path or Icknield Way Trail is a long distance footpath in East Anglia, England. The ancient Icknield Way itself is unique among long-distance trails because it can claim to be ‘the oldest road in Britain’. It consists of prehistoric pathways, ancient when the Romans came; the route is dotted with archaeological remains. It survives today in splendid tracks and green lanes along the ‘chalk spine’ of southern England.
The Harcamlow Way is a figure-of-eight long distance walk, mainly on tracks and green lanes passing many places of historic interest, crossing low hills, woods and arable land via Standon and Manuden to meet the cross-over point at Newport. It continues through Saffron Walden and over the low Bartlow Hills to Horseheath and the Fleam Dyke, to enter Cambridge, the return route passing through Melbourn and Chrishall to Newport, continuing via Debden, Thaxted, Takeley and Hatfield Forest. Originally devised in the 1970s by Fred Matthews and Harry Bitten.
Link to Icknield Way details: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icknield_Way
Link to Harcamlow Way details: wikishire.co.uk/wiki/Harcamlow_Way
The map below shows the National Mapping Programme data the red spots and lines are the key historical points of interest, for instance the small Romano British Settlement just below Black Peak and the barrows close to where the Icknield Way and Harcamlow Way are identified.
