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Authors: Brian Simmons and Paul Cope-Faulkner
Published by: The Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire
ISBN 0-948639-42-3
RRP £4.95 plus £1.00 postage & packing
The Car Dyke is a Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire mystery. It is an ancient, artificial watercourse extending for over 57 miles (92 km) from Washingborough near Lincoln to Peterborough. In 1712, the historian John Morton, suggested that it was constructed by the Romans for drainage of the fens and as a navigable canal. Nearly 300 years later, despite much historical research and many archaeological excavations, we are still unable to prove or disprove his theory.
That said, we now know much more about it - The Car Dyke is generally between twelve and seventeen metres wide and three to four metres deep with a similar profile for all its length. It is flanked by low banks formed from the excavated materialand in parts it is lined with clay. It is not continuous - excavations have shown that roads and tracks crossed it occasionally on causeways left undug and which may also been simple locks.
The booklet considers who built the Car Dyke, and why, and examines current threats to the monument and its future potential for tourism and recreation.
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