Offa's Dyke: section 480m south east of Stowfield Farm

Reasons for Designation

Offa's Dyke is the longest linear earthwork in Britain, approximately 220km, running from Treuddyn, near Mold, to Sedbury on the Severn estuary. It was constructed towards the end of the eighth century AD by the Mercian king Offa, and is believed to have formed a long-lived territorial, and possibly defensive, boundary between the Saxon kingdom of Mercia and the Welsh kingdoms. The Dyke is not continuous and consists of a number of discrete lengths separated by gaps of up to 23km. It is clear from the nature of certain sections that differences in the scale and character of adjoining portions were the result of separate gangs being employed on different lengths. Where possible, natural topographic features such as slopes or rivers were utilised, and the form of Offa's Dyke is therefore clearly related to the topography. Along most of its length it consists of a bank with a ditch to the west. Excavation has indicated that at least some lengths of the bank had a vertical outer face of either laid stonework or turf revetment. The ditch generally seems to have been used to provide most of the bank material, although there is also evidence in some locations of shallow quarries. In places, a berm divides the bank and ditch, and a counterscarp bank may be present on the lip of the ditch. Offa's Dyke now survives in various states of preservation in the form of earthworks and, where sections have been levelled and infilled, as buried features. Although some sections of the frontier system no longer survive visibly, sufficient evidence does exist for its position to be accurately identified throughout most of its length. In view of its contribution towards the study of early medieval territorial patterns, all sections of Offa's Dyke exhibiting significant archaeological remains are considered worthy of protection.

The section of Offa's Dyke 480m south east of Stowfield Farm survives well. The bank will have preserved part of the original ground surface, predating the construction of the monument and, along with the quarries will contain environmental evidence in the form of organic remains which will relate both to the Dyke and to the landscape within which it was constructed. The bank will also contain evidence relating to the methods of construction of the monument and the building materials used.

Details

The monument includes the buried and earthwork remains of a section of Offa's Dyke 480m south east of Stowfield Farm. Offa's Dyke generally consists of a bank up to 3.5m high with an intermittent ditch to the west and quarry ditches to the east. In places Offa's Dyke was strengthened by additional earthworks, namely a berm between the bank and ditch, and a counterscarp bank on the western lip of the ditch. In this section the Dyke turns from its usual alignment to run for some 63m south east-north west, parallel with the course of the River Wye. It is visible as a bank with quarry pits to the south. The bank is between 3m and 11m wide at its base and stands to 1.2m high. The quarry pits are between 3m and 5m wide and up to 1m deep. To the south east, the line of the Dyke appears to have been destroyed by later quarrying. A road has been cut through the line of the monument at the western extent of the section. This is believed to have been a relatively recent addition and is not thought to represent the site of an original crossing point through the Dyke. Because of this, and the evident destruction of the remains here, this area is not included in the scheduling. All fence and gate posts are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

33442

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Hoyle, J, Vallender, J, Offa's Dyke in Gloucestershire: Management Survay, (1997)

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