Related Papers
PhD Thesis Early medieval dykes (400 TO 850 AD)
2015 •
Erik Grigg
AbstractAcross Britain, there are over 100 possible early-medieval linear earthworks commonly termed dykes; in total, they stretch for over 400 kilometres. They vary in size from those just 100 metres in length to the famous Offa?s Dyke, which is over 95 kilometres long. There have been studies of individual dykes (Noble and Gelling 1983 for example) and general discussions of the larger examples (Squatriti 2002 for example), but no systematic attempt to catalogue and analyse them all. Their size and number suggests these earthworks were probably an important aspect of early-medieval life and have the capacity to tell us a great deal about the societies that built them. Dating such earthworks is difficult even with modern archaeological techniques and, as few early-medieval written sources survive, historians have often incorrectly ascribed enigmatic dykes to this period. This present study ascertained which dykes probably belong to the early-medieval period and contains a comprehen...
Offa's Dyke Journal
Grim's Ditch, Wansdyke, and the Ancient Highways of England: Linear Monuments and Political Control
2020 •
Timothy John Power Malim
Published first in 2007, Tim Malim’s review of Grim’s Ditch and Wansdyke provides a valuable synthesis and exploration of key issues of wider application regarding the relationship between linear earthworks, movement, territoriality and politics in the later prehistoric and early historic societies in Britain. The author provides a new introduction, while the article has been revised to the format of the Offa’s Dyke Journal by the editors.
Offa's Dyke Journal
Exploring Linear Earthworks across Time and Space – Introducing the ‘Monumentality and Landscape: Linear Earthworks in Britain’ Project
Nicky J Garland
Linear earthworks of a monumental character are an enigmatic part of the British landscape. Research in Britain suggests that such features range in date from the early 1st millennium BC to the Early Middle Ages. While the roles of these monuments in past societies cannot be understated, they remain a relatively under-researched phenomenon. This article introduces the Leverhulme Trust-funded ‘Monumentality and Landscape: Linear Earthworks in Britain’ project, which aims to provide a comparative study of linear earthworks focusing on those dating to the Iron Age and early medieval period. This contribution reviews our approach and shares preliminary results from the project’s first year, identifying wider implications for the study of linear earthworks.
Old Oswestry Hillfort and its Landscape: Ancient Past, Uncertain Future
Wat’s Dyke and its relationship to Old Oswestry hillfort
Timothy John Power Malim
This chapter focuses on the southern part of the Wat’s Dyke monument (descending from 100m AOD at Henlle to 75m AOD at Maesbury (Figure 1)), and especially on how it interfaces with Old Oswestry hillfort and extends through Oswestry. It examines the evidence from archaeological excavation and historical documentary sources. The historic town of Oswestry is not included within (to the east of) Wat’s Dyke, and perhaps this is an indication that by the time of the town’s foundation as an English settlement, the boundary had become obsolete. It continued in importance, however, as a major property boundary, marked-out in the modern townscape by roads and footpaths. Although it has been dated to the early medieval period (popularly known as the Dark Ages), there is circ*mstantial evidence to suggest that Wat’s Dyke might have originated as a boundary from an earlier period and one that might be associated with the battle of Maserfield in AD 642. Key words: dyke, linear earthwork, OSL dating, boundary, Maserfield/Maserfelth, cocboi/cogwy, standing stones, wells, saints, prehistoric, human remains.
Offa's Dyke Journal
The ‘Wall of Severus’: Pseudoarchaeology and the West Mercian Dykes
2020 •
Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews
The dates and purposes of Offa’s Dyke and Wat’s Dyke have long been a subject of debate among historians and archaeologists. This paper examines and critiques several of the more unusual claims made over the past century. Prominence is given to the use of ancient literature and widespread misunderstandings of scientific dating techniques, both of which have been used to suggest a Roman date for the origin of the dykes close to the modern Anglo-Welsh border.
Offa's Dyke Journal Volume 5
The Linear Earthworks of Cornwall: What if They Were Early Medieval?
2023 •
Erik Grigg
This article examines various linear earthworks in Cornwall that may date to the early medieval period. The dating evidence for the earthworks is discussed. While incontrovertible evidence for when they were built is lacking, the article asks how they might fit into the early medieval period if that is when most or all of them were built. The article postulates that they may have provided refuges against raiding, probably from the kingdom of Wessex in the eighth and ninth century, so allowing the Cornish to preserve their distinctive identity and language until the modern era (Padel 2017).
Offa's Dyke Journal 3
Rethinking Wat's Dyke: A Monument's Flow in a Hydraulic Frontier Zone
2021 •
Howard Williams
Britain’s second-longest early medieval monument – Wat’s Dyke – was a component of an early medieval hydraulic frontier zone rather than primarily serving as a symbol of power, a fixed territorial border or a military stop-line. Wat’s Dyke was not only created to monitor and control mobility over land, but specifically did so through its careful and strategic placement by linking, blocking and overlooking a range of watercourses and wetlands. By creating simplified comparative topographical maps of the key fluvial intersections and interactions of Wat’s Dyke for the first time, this article shows how the monument should not be understood as a discrete human-made entity, but as part of a landscape of flow over land and water, manipulating and managing anthropogenic and natural elements. Understanding Wat’s Dyke as part of a hydraulic frontier zone not only enhances appreciation of its integrated military, territorial, socio-economic and ideological functionality and significance, most likely the construction of the middle Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, it also theorises Wat’s Dyke as built to constitute and maintain control both across and along its line, and operating on multiple scales. Wat’s Dyke was built to manage localised, middle-range as well as long-distance mobilities via land and water through western Britain and beyond.
Offa's Dyke Journal
The Offa’s Dyke Collaboratory and the Offa’s Dyke Journal
2019 •
Howard Williams, Liam Delaney
Opening the first volume of a new open-access peer-reviewed academic publication, we are pleased to introduce the Offa’s Dyke Journal. This venture stems from the activities of the Offa’s Dyke Collaboratory, a research network founded in April 2017 to foster and support new research on the monuments and landscapes of the Anglo-Welsh borderlands and comparative studies of borderlands and frontiers from prehistory to the present. The proceedings of a series of academic and public-facing events have informed the character and direction of the Journal, the establishment of which coincides with the execution and publication of the Cadw/Historic England/Offa’s Dyke Association-funded Offa’s Dyke Conservation Management Plan and alongside other new community and research projects on linear earthworks. Funded by the University of Chester and the Offa’s Dyke Association, and published online by JAS Arqueologia, the journal aims to provide a resource for scholars, students and the wider public regarding the archaeology, heritage and history of the Welsh Marches and its linear monuments, but also providing a much-needed venue for interdisciplinary studies from other times and places.
Offa's Dyke Journal
Collaboratory, Coronavirus and the Colonial Countryside
2020 •
Howard Williams
Introducing the second volume of the Offa’s Dyke Journal (ODJ), this five-part articles sets the scene for the volume by reviewing: (i) some key research published recently, including significant work omitted from last year’s Introduction (Williams and Delaney 2019) and those published since December 2019; (ii) the key activities of the Offa’s Dyke Collaboratory in the exceptional circ*mstances of 2020; (iii) the political mobilisation of Offa’s Dyke in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns of the year; (iv) the ramifications of accelerated efforts to decolonise the British countryside on both archaeological research and heritage interpretation on linear monuments; and (v) a review of the contents of volume 2 in the light of these themes. Together, this introduction presents the context and significance of ODJ volume 2 for both research on the Welsh Marches and broader investigations of frontiers and borderlands.
Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History Volume 15
The Date and Nature of Wat's Dyke: a reassessment in light of recent investigations at Gobowen, Shropshire
2008 •
Timothy John Power Malim
Wat’s Dyke is a linear monument consisting of a bank and ditch which ran along the western edge of the Midlands plain. It has been interpreted as a defensive earthwork for the Mercian frontier, but definitive dating has never been established. Excavation in 2006 of a 40 m length of the bank and two trenches through the ditch has revealed a V-shaped ditch up to 8 m in width and 2.7 m deep with an ankle-breaker slot in the base, and an earth and stone bank on its eastern side surviving to over 5 m in width and 0.5 m in height. No timber was used in its construction, although evidence for a marker bank and a well-laid cobbled foundation show that it was carefully planned. A series of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates has provided scientific dating for the infill sequence and buried soil, showing construction and use occurred in the early ninth century, a possible episode of slighting occurring in the mid ninth century, and a deliberate major episode of infill associated with medieval ploughing in the fourteenth century. It is postulated that these dates can be related to historical events to suggest a construction for Wat’s Dyke during either the reigns of Cenwulf and Ceolwulf (AD 796–723), or for that of Wiglaf during the 830s.
