Page:VCH Essex 1.djvu/338

 A HISTORY OF ESSEX GRYME'S DYKE AND OTHER RAMPARTS NEAR COLCHESTER Gryme's Dyke, which forms the subject of an interesting paper by Dr. H. Laver, F.S.A., 1 is to be traced through the greater portion of its original length, still retaining in parts the rampart with deep fosse on its western side. It was about 3! miles long, extending from the Colne on the north to the Roman river on the south, forming a defence to the west of the British oppidum, the side which was unprotected by water. 2 Though there is no positive proof, we are probably safe in assigning a Celtic origin to this work, for as Dr. Laver says : There is no recorded instance of anything later than the British period ever having been found under any portion of this dyke, although Roman remains abound on the eastern side, and quite up to it. A very large part of what has been destroyed has been levelled during the last forty years ; and, as several observers have during this period sought carefully for relics of the Roman period and never found anything that could be identified with that people, it may fairly be concluded, that this work was raised before they came, especially if it is borne in mind that fragments of pottery of a distinctly British character have been unearthed at various points. Though the remains vary in section, Gryme's Dyke consists mainly of a fosse on the west, about 1 2 feet deep, with a rampart on the east, raised some 20 feet above the bottom of the fosse. The work, which otherwise runs north and south, has, at Butcher's Green, a rectangular break j-l throwing the southern portion of the defence more westward ; this curious break may represent the site of a fort on the long line of rampart, but the traces of further work are very indistinct. Another line of entrenchment, about a mile in length, extends nearly parallel with Gryme's Dyke on the eastern side of the latter, but is so much destroyed that it is impossible to speculate upon its age or purpose. Lexden Park Ramparts which lie still more to the east, extend far beyond the limits of the park on the north and south, being traceable for about two miles from the Bergholt road on the north, passing the ancient moated enclosure (now occupied by Lexden Lodge), across the river Colne, up the slope to Lexden Park, where the rampart is carried along the brow of a steep slope, forming a picture of great beauty in this well-timbered domain, then southward to the old London road. For the greater part of its length, this un-named work (which we have called Lexden Park Ramparts) is similar in construction to Gryme's Dyke, but there is no evidence of its age. Dr. H. Laver has admirably summed up all that has been said of it, but commits himself to no theory on the subject. 3 1 Essex Arch. Soc. Trans, n.s. vi. 1 7. 2 It should be noted that entrenchments are partly traceable on the south side of the Roman river, suggesting an extension of Gryme's Dyke in that direction. 3 Essex Arch. Soc. Trans, n.s. viii. 108. 2 7 6