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.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA6596 - 1993 Excavation of Offa's Dyke, River Unk, Mainstone by D Hill & M Worthington (Ref: Site 98)
• ESA9067 - 2019 Heritage at Risk Survey by Historic England
• ESA9228 - 2020 WB during installation of new path furniture, Offa's Dyke Path at Edenhope Hill by SCAS
• ESA9482 - 2021 WB on footpath furniture improvements, Offa's Dyke Path, Churchtown by SCAS

Description

Bank 2.4 to 3m high, with ditch on W side. 1.2m counterscarp. Bracken and grass. Largely unfenced. Fine stretch of dyke for almost its entire length with the exception of the northernmost part where it is reduced in height. <1>

In April 1993 drainage pipes were laid through the line of Offa’s Dyke on the southern side of the valley of the River Unk. Two machine cut trenches provided a partial section of the bank that did not reach the old ground surface in the southern trench and provided a ditch section in the northern trench. The bank consisted of layers of gravel and clay, some layers were stone free and others not. The section was entirely consistent with upcast from the ditch and no new evidence for the structure of the bank was observed. The northern trench was situated where the bank had already disappeared. A full ditch section was recovered; the U-shaped ditch was 9m wide and over 3.5m deep, compared to the average dimensions of 7m wide and 2m deep. The bottom of the ditch was deeper than that of the stony bed of the nearby river, which disappears underground in prolonged dry periods. It would appear that such a substantial ditch could only have been hand-excavated during such a dry period. <2>

Section of dyke photographed during aerial survey in 2009 and 2010. <3><4><5>

In February 2020 improvements were made to footpath furniture on a section of the Offa’s Dyke Path National Trail at Edenhope Hill, Mainstone in south Shropshire at SO 2633 8776. These works lay within a scheduled section of the monument (PRN 33559). The 2020 footpath work at Edenhope Hill involved the removal of an old stile and its replacement with a new gate on the line of the Dyke where it is crossed by a by-way running diagonally up the hill from Mainstone. No archaeological features or deposits were encountered. <6>

A watching brief was carried out on 2021 footpath work at Churchtown, which involved the removal of an old stile and its replacement with a new gate at SO 2630 8777 on the line of the Dyke where it runs up the hill from the hamlet, just to the northwest of the churchyard of St John the Baptist’s Church. No significant archaeological features or deposits were encountered. <7>

Sources

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