DE165

Wat's Dyke : Section South of Ruthin Road  

 

Designated  

Wrexham  

Offa  

332726  

349944  

Monument  

Linear Earthwork  

Early Medieval  

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 section of dyke runs to the south of the Ruthin Road railway bridge and measures approximately 140m long. A bank measuring up to 2m high runs alongside it to the west. To the east the bank has a long gradual slope. The ditch runs along the western side of the bank, and is currently occupied by a public right of way. 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.