Offa's Dyke: Section extending 1125m SW to Gilfach Wood

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the scheduled ancient monument.

The monument consists of a linear earthwork, a substantial bank and ditch forming a major boundary between two adjacent landholdings. Most date from the late Bronze Age and Iron Age. Offa's Dyke, however, is known to date to the later 1st century AD. It runs roughly along the border between modern England and Wales. It is traditionally thought to have been built by the Mercian King Offa in the later 8th century, but recent excavations on a section near Chirk suggest that work may have begun at least two centuries earlier than this. The remains included in this stretch consist for the most part of a low bank surmounted along its entire length, apart from c.150m at the northern end, by later field boundaries. For most of the stretch, it runs along a line with good views to the west and a gentle slope in that direction. The slope makes a western ditch unnecessary, and none is visible apart from possibly at the northernmost end, though the features here have been modified by the passage of a later hollowed trackway.

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. The remains form part of the record of the line of the earthwork, and their importance is 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.