Cof Cymru: National Historic Assets of Wales · Wales
Wat's Dyke: Sections S of Bryn y Bal
Argoed, Flintshire, Wales
The record
- Designation
- Scheduled monument
- Site type
- Linear Earthwork
- Period
- Early Medieval
- Date of designation
- 4 August 1959
- Community
- Argoed
- Unitary authority
- Flintshire
- Country
- Wales
- Coordinates (centre of the scheduled area)
- 53.17260, -3.11040
- SAM number
- FL121
- Cadw record number
- 2214
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.
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.
Nearby in the register
- Bryn FarmhouseDomesticunder 1 mi
- Argoed HallDomesticunder 1 mi
- Wat's Dyke: Section from Bod Offa to Whitehouse FarmLinear Earthworkunder 1 mi
- Taylor's PotteryPottery Kilnunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.