Wat's Dyke
Encyclopedia
Wat's Dyke is a 40 mile (64 km) earthwork running through the northern Welsh Marches
from Basingwerk Abbey
on the River Dee
estuary
, passing to the east of Oswestry
and onto Maesbury
in Shropshire
, England
. It runs generally parallel to Offa's Dyke
, sometimes within a few yards but never more than three miles away.
, the ditch long since filled in and the bank ploughed away, but originally it was a considerable construction, considered to be better made than Offa's Dyke
.
and by implication can been seen as protecting the English lands to the east. The placement of the dyke in the terrain also shows that care was taken to provide clear views to the west and to use local features to the best defensive advantage.
who reigned from 716 to 757. Aethelbald's successor, Offa, built the dyke which carries his name sometime during his reign (757 to 796). Offa's Dyke is viewed as being an 'improved' version, longer, possibly bigger and placed further west in order to acquire more land.
pottery and quantities of charcoal
, which have been dated to between 411 and 561 AD (centered around 446 AD). This evidence would seem to place the building of the dyke in the era of the post-Roman kingdom whose capital was at Wroxeter
(just south of modern day Shrewsbury
) about 10 miles to the east.
attempts to counter ‘barbarian’ attacks (i.e. Pictish and Irish
) in the region of modern North Wales
; or that it indicates a partition of the area following the English annexation of Wroxeter
in the 7th century. Another idea is that it marks a division of the early Kingdom of Powys which can be seen as a possible evolution of the Wroxeter based Romano-British kingdom. These theories all have the construction of Wat's Dyke much earlier and in a different political climate to the building of Offa's dyke by Anglian
Mercia in the 8th century.
The dating of the fire site and hence the dyke is disputed by some. It is suggested that owing to the difficulties inherent in radiocarbon dating, this single date cannot be trusted and also that the dyke could easily have been built on top of the fire site at a later date. Without more evidence from excavations revealing either Romano-British or later Anglian finds, nearly everything about Wat's Dyke remains uncertain.
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches is a term which, in modern usage, denotes an imprecisely defined area along and around the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods...
from Basingwerk Abbey
Basingwerk Abbey
Basingwerk Abbey is the ruin of an abbey near Holywell, Flintshire, Wales, in the care of Cadw .The abbey was founded in 1132 by Ranulph de Gernon, 2nd Earl of Chester, who brought Benedictine monks from Savigny Abbey in southern Normandy. In 1147, the abbey became part of the Cistercian Order and...
on the River Dee
River Dee, Wales
The River Dee is a long river in the United Kingdom. It travels through Wales and England and also forms part of the border between the two countries....
estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
, passing to the east of Oswestry
Oswestry
Oswestry is a town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483, and A495 roads....
and onto Maesbury
Maesbury
Maesbury is a small scattered community in Shropshire, England, south of the town of Oswestry, falling within the Oswestry Rural parish.Maesbury traditionally consists of five hamlets: Ball, Gwernybrenin, Newbridge, Maesbury and Maesbury Marsh, though the wider area now includes Aston and...
in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It runs generally parallel to Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke is a massive linear earthwork, roughly followed by some of the current border between England and Wales. In places, it is up to wide and high. In the 8th century it formed some kind of delineation between the Anglian kingdom of Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Powys...
, sometimes within a few yards but never more than three miles away.
Wat's Dyke today
These days Wat's Dyke appears, at best, as a raised hedgerow and in other places is now no more than a cropmarkCropmark
Cropmarks or Crop marks are a means through which sub-surface archaeological, natural and recent features may be visible from the air or a vantage point on higher ground or a temporary platform...
, the ditch long since filled in and the bank ploughed away, but originally it was a considerable construction, considered to be better made than Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke is a massive linear earthwork, roughly followed by some of the current border between England and Wales. In places, it is up to wide and high. In the 8th century it formed some kind of delineation between the Anglian kingdom of Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Powys...
.
Construction & siting
It consists of the usual bank and ditch of an ancient dyke, with the ditch on the western side, meaning that the dyke faces WalesWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and by implication can been seen as protecting the English lands to the east. The placement of the dyke in the terrain also shows that care was taken to provide clear views to the west and to use local features to the best defensive advantage.
Dating consensus
The consensus view places the date of construction to the early 8th century by Aethelbald king of MerciaMercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
who reigned from 716 to 757. Aethelbald's successor, Offa, built the dyke which carries his name sometime during his reign (757 to 796). Offa's Dyke is viewed as being an 'improved' version, longer, possibly bigger and placed further west in order to acquire more land.
Conflicting earlier dating evidence
However excavations in the 1990s at Maes-y-Clawdd near Oswestry uncovered the remains of a small fire site together with eroded shards of Romano-BritishRomano-British
Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people of Celtic language and...
pottery and quantities of charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
, which have been dated to between 411 and 561 AD (centered around 446 AD). This evidence would seem to place the building of the dyke in the era of the post-Roman kingdom whose capital was at Wroxeter
Wroxeter
Wroxeter is a village in Shropshire, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Wroxeter and Uppington and is located in the Severn Valley about south-east of Shrewsbury.-History:...
(just south of modern day Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
) about 10 miles to the east.
Interpretation
Interpretation of Wat's Dyke based on this evidence would suggest a number of possibilities: the dyke formed part of the late RomanRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
attempts to counter ‘barbarian’ attacks (i.e. Pictish and Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
) in the region of modern North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
; or that it indicates a partition of the area following the English annexation of Wroxeter
Wroxeter
Wroxeter is a village in Shropshire, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Wroxeter and Uppington and is located in the Severn Valley about south-east of Shrewsbury.-History:...
in the 7th century. Another idea is that it marks a division of the early Kingdom of Powys which can be seen as a possible evolution of the Wroxeter based Romano-British kingdom. These theories all have the construction of Wat's Dyke much earlier and in a different political climate to the building of Offa's dyke by Anglian
Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
Mercia in the 8th century.
The dating of the fire site and hence the dyke is disputed by some. It is suggested that owing to the difficulties inherent in radiocarbon dating, this single date cannot be trusted and also that the dyke could easily have been built on top of the fire site at a later date. Without more evidence from excavations revealing either Romano-British or later Anglian finds, nearly everything about Wat's Dyke remains uncertain.
See also
- Offa's DykeOffa's DykeOffa's Dyke is a massive linear earthwork, roughly followed by some of the current border between England and Wales. In places, it is up to wide and high. In the 8th century it formed some kind of delineation between the Anglian kingdom of Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Powys...
- Scots' DikeScots' DikeThe Scots' Dike or dyke is a three and a half mile / 5.25 km long linear earthwork, constructed by the English and the Scots in the year 1552 to mark the division of the Debatable lands and thereby settle the exact boundary between the Kingdoms of Scotland and England.-Introduction:The...
three and a half mile linear earthwork, in 1552 to mark the division of the Debatable landsDebatable LandsThe Debatable Lands, also known as Debatable ground, batable ground or thriep lands, was land lying between Scotland and England, formerly in question to which it belonged, when they were distinct kingdoms...
and thereby settle the exact boundary between the Kingdoms of Scotland and England. - Silesia WallsSilesia WallsSilesia Walls are a line of three parallel earthen ramparts and ditches that run through Lower Silesia in Poland, by the towns Szprotawa and Kożuchów. The walls are about 2.5 metres tall and, at their widest, 47 metres. They run for about 30 kilometres...
Further reading
- Blake, Steve and Scott, Lloyd (2003): The Keys to Avalon: The True Location of Arthur’s Kingdom Revealed. Revised Edition, published by Rider.
- Hannaford, H. R. (1998): "Archaeological Excavations on Wat’s Dyke at Maes-y-Clawdd," Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council, report no. 132, December 1997.
- Worthington, Margaret (1997): '"Wat’s Dyke: An Archaeological and Historical Enigma," Bulletin John Rylands Library, Manchester, Vol 79, no. 3, 1997.
- "Wat's Dyke Dated: Was it Coenwulf's Dyke?" British Archaeology, Nov./Dec. 2007, p. 7.
External links
- www.watsdykeway.org - trail following the Dyke
- www.geograph.co.uk - photos of Wat's Dyke today