Wat's Dyke: Section E and SE of Dyke Farm

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 is a 325m long section of Wat's Dyke, in which the bank mostly survives as a 1m scarp. The ditch is an average of 3m wide and 1.5m to 2m deep, though it reaches 5m wide in places and a depth of up to 3m. The ditch is overgrown and in places holds water.

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 linear earthwork may be part of a larger cluster of monuments and their importance can further enhanced by their group value.

The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is a 10m wide strip beginning 56m to the north-west of Railway Cottages boundary wall, and extending for 250m to the north.