Danes Dyke in Flamborough, Yorkshire, United Kingdom | Dyke

Welcome to Danes Dyke, Flamborough, United Kingdom. Jutting out miles into the North Sea, the headland has in the past been effectively cut off by the construction, in the Iron Age, of the erroneously named Danes Dyke, which encloses five square miles of the peninsula. The end of the Dyke is a deep ravine on the south side of the Headland, where it exits into Bridlington Bay (the photograph at left shows the beach at the end of the Dyke). There are a number of nature trails in the Dyke which can be accessed easily from the car park off the main Bridlington to Flamborough Road.

Although visible across the entire headland, the Dyke is not such a prominent feature as it approaches the northern side and, seaward of Bempton Cliffs, is barely noticeable.

Danes Dyke consists of prehistoric earthworks, possibly intended as a defence, and woodland that runs 2½ miles across Flamborough Head. Despite its name, Danes Dyke had nothing to do with the Danes, and was a much earlier site - probably dating back to the Bronze Age. Indeed the site was excavated by Major-General Augustus Pitt-Rivers in 1879 and Bronze Age arrowheads were found. Today, the area attracts many resident breeding and wintering birds, and is an excellent site for bird watchers at migration times.