This week we discover the legendary beauty spot, Devil’s Dyke in Newmarket!!
The Devil’s Dyke is one of the longest and best preserved Anglo-Saxon earthworks in England. It was built in the 6th century to guard East Anglia form the south west when skirmishes between Britons and Saxons were common. The massive bank and ditch stretch in a near straight line for 12 kilometres (7.5miles). From the fen edge at Reach, across the open chalk landscape near Newmarket, to the wooded slopes at Woodditton. The dyke is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
It is also a rare surviving example of a chalk grassland environment home to a wide variety of rare wildlife. Look out for the Chalkhill blue, a rare butterfly as you walk the Devil’s Dyke. Only found in chalk or limestone areas where the larval foodplant, Horseshoe Vetch, is found in abundance. It is a warmth-loving butterfly, typically found on sheltered, south-facing hillsides. The Dyke has one of the few surviving remnants of chalk grassland in the region and supports a rich flora, including rockroses, milkwort, restharrow, pasque flower, bee orchid, bellflowers, pyramidal orchid, sanfoin, harebells, centaury, scabious and wild geranium.
See details below and a map showing the course of Devil’s Dyke along with the roads that intersect it.
http://www.devils-dyke.com/?page_id=61
The Devil’s Dyke is an excellent walk one of the finest in the area!