Offa's Dyke: section 340m south east of Coxbury 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 340m south east of Coxbury Farm survives well. The bank will have preserved part of the original ground surface, predating the construction of the Dyke and, along with the quarries to the east, 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 method of construction of the monument and the building materials used.

Details

The monument includes the buried and earthwork remains of Offa's Dyke 340m south east of Coxbury 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. This 162m long section of the Dyke is visible as a bank, with quarry pits to the east. The bank is up to 13m wide at its base and stands to a maximum height of 1.5m on its outer face and 0.5m on its inner face. The eastern quarry pits form a band up to 7m wide and between 0.5m and 2m deep. To the north west, as the line of the Dyke has been badly damaged by later quarrying, and large rocks and boulders are visible throughout the area, this section is no longer included in the scheduling. All wooden fence posts, sign posts and stiles 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:

33456

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

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

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