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 particularly well preserved section of Offa's Dyke, the 8th century Mercian boundary bank, standing up to 3.2m high in places.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA6492 - 1994 Salvage recording of section of Offa's dyke, Spoad Hill, nr Clun by SCCAS
• ESA8153 - 2017 DBA of land at Lower Spoad, Newcastle on Clun by CPAT (Ref: 16/02768/OUT)
• ESA8360 - 2014 Conservation management plan for Offa's Dyke, The Yew Tree, Newcastle-on-Clun by Shropshire Council HET
• ESA954 - 1980 recording of section of Offa's Dyke at Spring Hill Farm, Newcastle-on-Clun by Shropshire County Council SMR
• ESA9067 - 2019 Heritage at Risk Survey by Historic England

Description

Scheduling of Scheduled Monuments Salop 80 and Salop 231 revised in 2004, and part of Salop 80 combined with 231 to form this new Scheduled section. Relevant part of Scheduling description: ->

-> The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a section of the linear boundary known as Offa's Dyke 730m south east of The Yew Tree lying within three separate areas of protection. 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 approximately 1.35km from the hillside above the south bank of the brook below Bryndrinog to the road which runs north of Springhill Farm. At its northern end, within the first area of protection, the Dyke is visible as slight earthworks running south for 40m before becoming more evident as a bank 1.8m high with a ditch and counterscarp bank 4m wide at the base. Beyond this, the Dyke is believed to have been destroyed by the construction of the road and Lower Spoad Farm, and this area is not, therefore, included in the Scheduling. To the south of Lower Spoad Farm and in the second area of protection the Dyke is visible as a bank and ditch, approximately 40m long, lying within the farmyard. Beyond this, there is no evidence for the Dyke surviving immediately to the south, and this area is not included in the Scheduling. Approximately 30m to the south, however, and within the third area of protection the Dyke is visible as a bank up to 3.2m high with a ditch and counterscarp bank continuing southwards up the hill for 450m before being joined by a track from the north west. The track overlies the ditch for 150m then runs along the eastern edge of the bank for 400m, passing some small modern quarries to the east of the Dyke. Both the ditch and the bank will survive as buried features where overlain by the track, and are included in the Scheduling. South of this, the Dyke runs for a further 100m to the road at Spoad Hill, and is visible as a steep-sided bank and deeply cut ditch. ->

-> Further sections of Offa's Dyke approximately 250m to the north and 12m to the south of this monument are the subject of separate Schedulings. All fence posts, gates, stiles and track surfaces are excluded from the Scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included. ->

-> This section of Offa's Dyke survives particularly well, standing up to 3.2m high in places, despite some disturbance by the construction of a track … This section of the Dyke is accessible to the public and as such is a valuable recreational and educational resource. <1>

Archaeological recording was undertaken in 1994 of unauthorised works to Offa's Dyke at Spoad Hill. At SO25478085 the ditch was seen to survive to a depth of 0.8m below the present ground surface. The ditch was seen to be rock cut, and three distinct fills were observed. The earliest (1304) was seen to consist of a very dark grey sandy silt; the upper two (1303 and 1302) consisting of dark brown sandy silts with rock fragments. These fills were sealed by a layer of humic topsoil 0.35m deep (1301). <2>

Cyril Fox describing this section of the dyke, at Lower Spoad: "No trace of the earthworks is visible across the alluvial flat of the Clan valley, but when the upland begins again beyond the river it reappears, presenting a broad bank levelled to form a trackway, and a very broad W. ditch. These are lost at Lower Spoad, but reappear in the orchard N. of the 'Old Quarry'. The layout of the Dyke across the valley is interesting. From the point where the slope eases (the road angle by BM 803.4), an alignment was taken on to the point where the steep slope begins on the other side of the river, by the 'Old Quarry', 850 yards away. Surviving remains of the Dyke between these points are practically in the same straight line . . . [the] ditch appears originally to have been fed by a rivulet which, rising high up on Spoad Hill, passed through Lower Spoad buildings". <3><3a>

A conservation management plan was prepared in March 2014 for the scheduled Section of Offa's Dyke at The Yew Tree, Newcastle-on-Clun. This covered the removal of defective mature trees and selective thinning of the mature tree cover. <4>

A section across Offa's dyke was recorded at Spring Hill Farm, in 1980, after it had been exposed as a result of "cutting down" an existing roadway to improve tractor access. <5>

Sources

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