Home LiDAR map Essex Colchester
LiDAR map of Colchester
Waystone shows the bare-earth LiDAR of Colchester, Essex, at one metre per pixel: the part of the area that lies outside any civil parish. The heritage records hold 166 recorded places here: 112 listed buildings, 26 places recorded in Wikidata, 17 scheduled monuments, 5 ancient places (Pleiades), 4 Roman inscriptions. On the LiDAR, most of the ground in Colchester lies between about 8 m and 38 m above sea level; its highest point is about 49 m. By their register titles, its scheduled monuments include 10 Roman sites, 3 enclosures and other earthworks, 2 barrows or cairns and 1 industrial site.
Colchester on the LiDAR. Bare-earth LiDAR, drawn in your browser by the RVT toolbox (the Relief Visualization Toolbox, ZRC SAZU). It opens on Combined VAT; the panel holds all seventeen of its methods, each with its settings. LiDAR: Environment Agency, 1 m composite DTM, Open Government Licence. More about this map
The Ordnance Survey six-inch map of Colchester, 1888–1913. The Ordnance Survey’s six-inch-to-the-mile map, second edition, surveyed between 1888 and 1913 and held by the National Library of Scotland, laid over today’s map with the paper colour removed, so the field boundaries, place names and antiquities the surveyors drew sit on the ground. More about this map
Roman roads near Colchester. The Roman road network compiled by the Roman Roads Research Association (Digital Britannia), with each road’s grade of evidence, and the Roman forts, camps and towns along them. More about this map
Aerial archaeology at Colchester. Historic England’s Aerial Archaeology Mapping: banks, ditches, enclosures and field systems traced by archaeologists from aerial photographs and LiDAR, coloured by period. More about this map
See Colchester with everything Waystone has
The full map lays the LiDAR under the Ordnance Survey's six-inch maps of 1843–1913, the Roman road network, Historic England's aerial survey and the 166 recorded places in this area, with search, the sun dial, the ground probe and the cross-section tool, for all of England and Wales. Free, with nothing to install.
- County
- Essex, England
- Area
- 42.8 km²
- Recorded places
- 166
- Height (LiDAR)
- Mostly 8–38 m above sea level; highest 49 m
- ONS code
- E43000228
Places with their own page
- /places/colchester-abbey/
- /places/bourne-mill/
- /places/colchester-castle/
- /places/balkerne-gate/
- /places/st-botolph-s-priory/
Scheduled monuments and other designated sites
- Lexden Dyke at Spring Meadow: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum and Romano-British town of CamulodunumScheduled monument
- Bourne MillScheduled monument
- CamulodunumAtlas of Hillforts entry
- Moat Farm Dyke: a northern extension of Lexden Dyke; part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum and Romano-British town of CamulodunumScheduled monument
- Colchester Roman Circus including sections of the Benedictine Abbey of St JohnScheduled monument
- Earthwork in Brinkley GroveScheduled monument
- Site of pre-Roman settlementScheduled monument
- Gryme's Dyke Middle: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum and Romano-British town of CamulodunumScheduled monument
- Heath Farm Dyke Middle (rear of Alan Way): part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum of CamulodunumScheduled monument
- Lexden Tumulus Iron Age barrow and associated cemetery area: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum of CamulodunumScheduled monument
- Kidman's Dyke North and Middle: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum of CamulodunumScheduled monument
- The Triple Dyke: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum and Romano-British town of CamulodunumScheduled monument
- Group of barrows at Annan RoadScheduled monument
- Roman barrow known as Lexden Mount: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum and Roman town of CamulodunumScheduled monument
- Lexden Dyke Middle: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum and Romano-British town of CamulodunumScheduled monument
- Berechurch Dyke: part of the Iron Age territorial oppidum and Romano-British town of CamulodunumScheduled monument
- Remains of an apsidal Roman building at Butt Road and SouthwayScheduled monument
- Town ditchScheduled monument
- Colchester Castle ParkRegistered park or garden
- GosbecksAncient place (Pleiades)
- Col. CamulodunumAncient place (Pleiades)
- Ad AnsamAncient place (Pleiades)
- Roman theater at GosbecksAncient place (Pleiades)
- Temple of ClaudiusAncient place (Pleiades)
Listed buildings
- The Balkerne Gate
- St John's Abbey Gatehouse
- Holly Trees
- Colchester Town Hall
- The Castle Keep
- Bourne Mill
- Colchester Club
- Wivenhoe House
- Grey Friars
- Former Church of St Leonard at the Hythe
- The Roman Town Wall
- Ruins of Priory Church of St Botolph
- The Scheregate
- Colchester War Memorial
- East Hill House
- Winnock's Almshouses
- Church of St Michael
- Former Church of Holy Trinity
- Red Lion Hotel
- The Albert Hall
- East Lodge Gate House
- The Marquis of Granby Inn
- Employment Exchange
- Garrison Church
- Church of St Peter
- The Minories
- Church of St Martin
- The George Hotel
- Column and Street Light, Right of Entrance
- Column and Street Light, Left of Entrance to Town
and 82 more on the map.
Other recorded places
- Bullock WoodWikidata place
- Colchester New ChurchWikidata place
- Colchester power stationWikidata place
- University of EssexWikidata place
- UK Data ArchiveWikidata place
- Layer RoadWikidata place
Nearest places with their own page
- Bourne Mill810 m north-east
- Colchester Abbey1.5 km north
- St. Botolph's Priory1.7 km north
Neighbouring parishes
- Langenhoe
- Layer-de-la-Haye
- Abberton
- East Donyland
- Wivenhoe
- Stanway
- Elmstead
- Eight Ash Green
- Myland
- West Bergholt
- Ardleigh
- Langham
- Boxted
Reading the LiDAR
The terrain model has trees, crops and buildings removed, so banks, ditches, mounds, old field systems and hollow ways show as relief. Many are modern or natural: check the records and the old Ordnance Survey map in the app. How to read a LiDAR map. Scheduled monuments are protected by law; use public rights of way.
Sources
- LiDAR: Environment Agency, 1 m composite DTM, Open Government Licence.
- Heights: Waystone, from the same LiDAR sampled about every 12 m inside the boundary; 'most of the ground' is the middle 80% of those heights; metres above Ordnance Datum Newlyn.
- Parish boundary: Office for National Statistics, Parishes and Non Civil Parished Areas (December 2024), Open Government Licence. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2025.
- Recorded places: the national heritage records (Historic England, Cadw, Coflein and others) as held by Waystone.
- Ancient places: Pleiades (ISAW/AWMC), CC BY 3.0.
- Hillforts: Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland (Lock and Ralston 2017), CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Roman inscriptions: LatinNow Project, University of Nottingham, CC BY 4.0.
Last updated 2026-10-16.