Monument Type(s):

• BOUNDARY BANK (Early Saxon to Mid Saxon - 410 AD to 800 AD)
• DYKE (DEFENCE) (Early Saxon to Mid Saxon - 410 AD to 800 AD)
• FRONTIER DEFENCE (Early Saxon to Mid Saxon - 410 AD to 800 AD)

Summary

Scheduled Monument: A well preserved section of Offa's Dyke, the 8th century Mercian boundary bank, standing up to 3m high, with a well-defined ditch and counterscarp bank, where it passes through Churchtown Wood.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA6524 - 2008 WB along Offa’s Dyke Path at Churchtown Wood, Middle Knuck, Nut Wood, and Rownal by SCCAS
• ESA6667 - 2010 WB on Offa's Dyke by SCAS
• ESA6697 - 2011 WB along Offa's Dyke at Churchtown, Edenhope Hill and Selley Hall by SCAS

Description

Scheduling of section 430m north east of Middle Knuck Farm (formerly part of Salop 78, now 32596) revised in 2004. Scheduling description: ->

-> The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a section of the linear boundary known as Offa's Dyke 430m north east of Middle Knuck Farm. Offa's Dyke generally consists of a bank, up to 3.5m high, with an intermittent parallel ditch and quarry pits in places. It was strengthened in some areas by additional earthworks, namely a berm between the bank and ditch and a counterscarp bank on the outer lip of the ditch. ->

-> In this section the Dyke runs for some 860m from a point 80m south of Churchtown Cottage to the entrance to Middle Knuck Farm. Immediately to the north of this section there is an 80m gap in the Dyke on the valley floor at Churchtown where the earthworks have been largely destroyed and are not, therefore, included in the scheduling. The Dyke was last recorded in this area by Sir Cyril Fox in 1928. ->

-> At the northern end of the section the Dyke runs uphill as far as the road which crosses Knuck Bank. Throughout this section the bank is about 3m high with a well defined ditch and counterscarp bank. The road turns at this point to follow the eastern edge of the bank for 130m before cutting through the Dyke and continuing westwards. ->

-> Beyond the road, Offa's Dyke continues southwards to the gateway at Middle Knuck Farm. The earthworks are 24m wide on average throughout this southern section. ->

-> Further sections of Offa's Dyke approximately 180m to the north and 6m to the south of the monument are the subject of separate schedulings. All fence posts and stiles and the surface of the road are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included <1>

In 2008, a new fingered waymark post and a pegged retaining board across the path to prevent down slope erosion from rainwater were installed on the western side of the projected line of the ditch on a steep slope down towards the hamlet of Churchtown. A single hole was excavated for the fingerpost 0.8m deep by 0.3m in diameter. Three holes were dug for the pegged board placed across the path. These were each 0.5m deep by 0.25m wide. The holes cut through a topsoil consisting of a dark greyish brown humic loam 0.2m deep which lay over the natural buff sandy clay with small stone fragments. No significant archaeological features or deposits were seen in the excavation. <2>

In 2011, a watching brief was carried out during the installation of new path furniture at two sites located on the line of the ditch component of the Dyke - Middle Knuck B (ODP10 MK–B; SO 2615 8679) and Middle Knuck C (ODP10 MK-C; SO 2614 8678). Excavations recorded relatively shallow fills above the natural bedrock at the base of the ditch. The natural bedrock was encountered at about 0.5m below the ground surface, and the ditch fill was between 0.2m and 0.3m in thickness.<3>

In 2010 a watching brief was carried out on the installation of new path furniture at a number of sites along the Offa’s Dyke Path including within this stretch - at Churchtown (SO 2634 8726; ODP11-C), replacing a stile with an oak wicket gate. No features associated with the dyke were recorded in this location, although the gate was situated on the line of the bank element of the dyke; the bank emerges as an earthwork c.10m south of the gate. <4>

<01> English Heritage, 2004, Scheduling Papers (Revised Scheduling, 15/04/2004) (Scheduled Monument notification). SSA21927.

<02> Hannaford Hugh R, 2008, Offa’s Dyke Path, Churchtown Wood, Middle Knuck, Nut Wood, and Rownal (Watching brief report). SSA23735.

<03> Hannaford Hugh R, 2011, A watching brief on the installation of new path furniture along Offa's Dyke Path, Shropshire, 2010 (Watching brief report). SSA23982.

<04> Hannaford Hugh R, 2011, Offa's Dyke Path 2011: a watching brief on the installation of new path furniture at Churchtown, Edenhope Hill, and Selley Hall, ODP11-C (Watching brief report). SSA24042.

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.