Name: Lexden Earthworks and Bluebottle Grove
Rating: 5.0

Lexden Earthworks and Bluebottle Grove

Lexden Earthworks & Bluebottle Grove, Colchester, UK

1-99 Years

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Description

Lexden Earthworks and Bluebottle Grove The banks and ditches of a series of late Iron Age defences protecting the western side of Camulodunum – pre-Roman Colchester. There are also many pre-Roman graves hereabouts, including Lexden Tumulus, allegedly the burial place of the British chieftain Cunobelinus.

The Colchester earthworks at Lexden and Bluebottle Grove are among the few surviving late Iron Age defences in Britain. They defended the west side of pre-Roman Colchester, Camulodunum, which was occupied by the Iron Age Catuvellauni and their leader Cunobelin from about AD 10, and before that by the Trinovantes.

Free Entry. If you are looking for Best place for day out with kids and families then this is the perfect destination offering fun, adventure, and unforgettable memories for everyone.

Features

Free
Host birthday parties: No

Features

History of Lexden Earthworks and Bluebottle Grove: The Colchester earthworks at Lexden and Bluebottle Grove are among the few surviving late Iron Age defences in Britain. They defended the west side of pre-Roman Colchester, Camulodunum, which was occupied by the Iron Age Catuvellauni and their leader Cunobelin from about AD 10, and before that by the Trinovantes.
Origins: This great defensive system is thought to have been begun in the last quarter of the 1st century BC. Many pre-Roman graves have been found in the vicinity of Lexden Dyke, the best known of which lies within the ditch itself and is called the Lexden Tumulus.
Excavations in 1924 revealed the burial of an Iron Age nobleman in a pit beneath a barrow 30 metres in diameter. He was surrounded by luxurious objects – some of them Roman imports – which clearly belonged to a man of great importance.
This was once thought to be Cunobelin himself, but the dating of the objects to about 15–10 BC makes this untenable: Cunobelin died about AD 40. It seems likely that the tumulus was the burial place of Addedomarus, ruler of the Trinovantes (whose territory bordered that of the Catevellauni), or his son Dubnovellaunus, who succeeded him about 10–5 BC.
Description: Lexden Earthworks bound the western side of the site and Bluebottle Grove the southern. The outermost rampart, Gryme’s Dyke, is today the most impressive. It ran from the river Colne to the Roman River and can be traced for most of its length. South of the London Road it appears first as a hedge and then as a well-defined bank with a substantial ditch on its west side. This dyke is named after the Devil, ‘Gryme’, to whom Christians attributed many ancient earthworks whose origins were long forgotten. A footpath follows it for more than a mile.
The large gravel pit known as King Coel’s Kitchen probably marks the point where the Roman roads from Cambridge and London once converged to cross this dyke.
East of Gryme’s Dyke are the remnants of an earlier system: the Triple Dyke, west of Lexden; and the Lexden Dyke, which extends south to Bluebottle Grove and continues north of the Colne, where it is known as Moat Farm Dyke.

Facilities

Parking: No parking on site but on-street parking is available near both sites.
Food & Drinks: There are no facilities at either site but both are two miles from Colchester town centre.
Dogs: Dogs on leads are welcome.

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Price

Price: Free

Birthday Parties

Offer Birthday Parties: No

Open any reasonable time during daylight hours.

Address: Lexden Earthworks & Bluebottle Grove, Colchester, UK

Post Code: CO3 9DD

Council: Colchester

County: Essex

Road Access: 2 miles west of Colchester off A604. Lexden Earthworks are on Lexden Straight Rd. To visit Bluebottle Grove from Lexden, turn left into Heath Rd, left into Church Lane, right into Beech Hill and follow the signs to the site.
Bus Access: Hedingham 4 and 15.
Train Access: Colchester or Colchester Town, both 2 1⁄2 miles.
Bicycle Access: Find this site on The National Cycle Network.
Parking: No parking on site but on-street parking is available near both sites.