Cof Cymru: National Historic Assets of Wales · Wales
Wat's Dyke: Sections N & S of the Court
Offa, Wrexham, Wales
The record
- Designation
- Scheduled monument
- Site type
- Linear Earthwork
- Period
- Early Medieval
- Date of designation
- 13 February 1958
- Community
- Offa
- Unitary authority
- Wrexham
- Country
- Wales
- Coordinates (centre of the scheduled area)
- 53.03569, -3.00394
- SAM number
- DE173
- Cadw record number
- 3125
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesLlyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru – The National Library of Wales
Shown on 5 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1795 "To Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn Bart ... the map of the six counties of North Wales is most humbly inscribed by his obedient humble servant" (Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru – The National Library of Wales).
Cadw's description
Summary description and reason for designation
The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument.
The monument comprises a stretch of Wat's Dyke, an early historic boundary marker probably associated with the border of the kingdom of Mercia. Both Offa's Dyke and Wat's Dyke probably represent separate attempts in the 8th century to formalise the boundary between the early historic kingdoms within Wales and Mercia to the east. Wat's Dyke runs south from Holywell to the Morda Valley near Maesbury. For the most part, Wat's dyke consists of an earthen bank, often utilising local topography and fronted, where it survives, by a ditch to the west. The size of the surviving earthworks varies considerably, reflecting differences in preservation and probably also in the original scale of construction. This stretch of dyke forms the boundary between private gardens to the east and Erddig Park to the west, and runs for c500m. The scheduled area is divided into four parts.
The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of early medieval defensive organisation and settlement. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. A dyke may be part of a larger cluster of monuments and their importance can be further enhanced by their group value practices.
The scheduled area comprises the remains described and the areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.
Nearby in the register
- Mortuary at Wrexham CemeteryNo class recordedunder 1 mi
- Gates to CemetaryReligious, Ritual and Funeraryunder 1 mi
- Gate Piers to CemetaryReligious, Ritual and Funeraryunder 1 mi
- Lodge to CemetaryDomesticunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.