Archaeology

This waterway was once referred to as Car Dyke and was believed to have run all the way from Waterbeach to Lincoln. However, we now know that the Cambridgeshire stretch of the canal did not link directly to the Car Dyke system.
These routeways were built at the peak of Roman Britain, and that era dominates the archaeology and historic landscape unveiled by the first round of archaeological investigations carried out at the former Barracks and Airfield at Waterbeach in 2020.
We know that the land north of Cambridge around Waterbeach, Landbeach, Milton and Cottenham has been occupied since as early as the Iron Age (800 BC–AD 43)
Some of the finds from the first archaeological investigations can be seen in the artefact gallery below

Archaeology periods timeline

Reconstruction of an Iron Age settlement
Peter Lorimer, © Oxford Archaeology
> AD 43
Roman Britain

A reconstruction of a Roman 'port' like the one found nearby
Peter Lorimer, © Oxford Archaeology
> AD 410
Anglo Saxon

Reconstruction of an Anglo Saxon farm, showing hall type buildings
Peter Lorimer, © Oxford Archaeology
> AD 1066
Medieval

A reconstruction of Waterbeach Abbey
Jon Cane, © Cambridgeshire County Council
What's happening now?
Archaeologists are preparing for the next phase of archaeology to get underway.
Over the next 6 months we’ll be building on our first phase of archaeology, looking at a large Roman Settlement, Iron Age settlement and the site of a possible Anglo-Saxon hall!
Artefact Gallery












































































































































































































