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

• ESA6373 - 2009 WB on Offa's Dyke by SCAS
• ESA6606 - 1976? Excavation of Offa's Dyke, Orseddwyn, Selattyn by D Hill & M Worthington (Ref: Site 29)
• ESA6607 - 1979? Excavation of Offa's Dyke, Woodside, Selattyn by D Hill & M Worthington (Ref: Site 63)
• ESA955 - 1979 watching brief on Offa's Dyke at Woodside, Craignant by Shropshire County Council SMR
• ESA6384 - 2003 WB on Offa's Dyke at Orseddwen by CPAT
• ESA9431 - 2018 WB on land at Woodside, Selattyn by Aeon Archaeology

Description

Very fine stretch with 3m high bank and ditch with 1.5m counterscarp. Pasture, some trees. <1>

Watching brief carried out on this section of the dyke, at Tai'n-y-mynydd, SJ 259 362, in 2009, on the replacement of a stile and adjacent fence posts. No archaeological remains recorded. ->

-> Watching brief carried out on this section of the dyke, at Plas-crogen, SJ 253 357, in 2009, on the replacement of a finger post. No archaeological remains recorded. ->

-> Watching brief carried out on this section of the dyke, at Upper Craignant, SJ 252 353, in 2009, on the replacement of a finger post. No archaeological remains recorded. <2>

Site 29 (SJ 251 339)Excavation of this section of dyke by D. Hill and M. Worthington. The excavation investigated a site that Fox described as a possible original gateway, although his published photograph shows only a remnant of lowered bank across the gap. The excavation found the remains of the bank, the ditch and a low counterscarp bank to the west. These low banks on the western lip of the ditch are an occasional feature of the Dyke’s construction, particularly when it is running directly up and down hills. Shallow soils may have made excavation of a full-scale ditch more difficult and so a small western bank gives the appearance of a deeper ditch. In other places, however, the ditch has been cut through bedrock so there may have been other reasons for these counterscarp banks; as no evidence has been found for re-cutting or cleaning out of the ditch that might have resulted in such a bank, this was considered part of the original plan. A counterscarp bank is visible on the hill between Carreg-y-big and Orseddwyn.
Site 63 (SJ 251 346) The opportunity was taken to record a partial section of bank exposed during rebuilding operations to the south of a cottage that cuts into the eastern edge of the bank. Approximately half of the width of the bank standing to a height of 1m above the old ground level was exposed at this time. A layer of large stones was observed at the base of the bank with a layer of hard-packed clay with some stone overlying it and with the whole of the exposed part of the bank covered by a layer of looser clayey material. <3>

Excavation showed that this was not an original gap as all elements of the earthwork were found. One point of interest here was that the ditch (just under 1m deep) appeared to be shallow in relation to the size of the bank adjacent to the gap. Stones up to 50cm in diameter were found in the base of the ditch and in the counterscarp bank. Much large stone is visible at the surface along this length of the Dyke, particularly on the western side. The farmer had not found similar stones within the fields during ploughing, possibly suggesting that some material was imported to the site to build the main bank that still stands to more than 3.5m in places and the material for which could not have been derived solely from the ditch. <4>

<4> appears to be reporting on a follow up to a site visit/watching brief in 1979 by SCC [ESA 955] which was subsequently reported to Dr. David Hill. This site visit form records that "He reported that in addition to the sections S of Woodside, a longitudinal section was exposed during the digging of a cesspit on the N (downhill) side of the house. This was also recorded by the Offa's Dyke Group." <5>

In 2003 a photographic survey was undertaken before, during and after the installation of new path furniture, a retaining wall and a foot bridge along the Offa's Dyke Path, south of Orseddwen at SJ251335. At this location, the rampart of Offa’s Dyke is generally well preserved, serving as a modern field boundary. Before the works were carried out it was noted that where the path migrates onto the dyke bank, it was associated with some erosion, exacerbated by tree roots/shading, and the gradient either side of the stream. On the eastern flank of the rampart evidence of prior disturbance associated with old field boundary/fencing arrangements was apparent. Disturbance associated with the stile on top of the bank was noted in the form of localised erosion pinch-points at the step off areas, exacerbated by stock rubbing against the stile. <6>

Section of dyke photographed during aerial survey in 2009. <7><8><9>

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken in 2018 during groundworks associated with the construction of a new garden room extension and patio at Woodside, Selattyn, Oswestry (SJ 25113 34621); this did not identify any archaeological remains. The stratigraphy of the foundation trenches showed that the flat garden terrace had been
created through a cut and fill episode into the natural slope, with ceramic fragments suggesting that thisoccurred in the mid-19th century, and likely contemporary with the construction of Woodside. <10>

Sources

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