Hidden Earthworks:  Excavation and Protection of Offa’s and Wat’s Dykes

Belford, Paul

doi:10.23914/odj.v1i0.251

Cited by 7 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 1 publication

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Communities throughout the Welsh Marches still live in their shadow, with Offa's Dyke frequently confused with its smaller sibling, and with each often conflated with the present-day Anglo-Welsh border and the Offa's Dyke Path National Trail. While protected as scheduled ancient monuments over large sections of their length, recent archaeological evaluations and fieldwork has revealed their neglected status as well as their potential for fostering public interest in, and appreciation of, the historic landscape (Ray and Bapty 2016;Belford 2019). Yet, to date, evaluating contemporary receptions and perceptions of the dykes has received limited attention (Noble 1981: 23;Ray and Bapty 2016: 373-376).…”

Section: Introduction: Living 'After Offa'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Living after Offa: Place-Names and Social Memory in the Welsh Marches

Williams

2020

OD Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

How are linear monuments perceived in the contemporary landscape and how do they operate as memoryscapes for today’s borderland communities? When considering Offa’s Dyke and Wat’s Dyke in today’s world, we must take into account the generations who have long lived in these monuments’ shadows and interacted with them. Even if perhaps only being dimly aware of their presence and stories, these are communities living ‘after Offa’. These monuments have been either neglected or ignored within heritage sites and museums with only a few notable exceptions (Evans and Williams 2019; Williams 2020), and have long been subject to confused and challenging conflations with both the modern Welsh/English border and, since the 1970s, with the Offa’s Dyke Path. Moreover, to date, no study has attempted to compile and evaluate the toponomastic (place-name) evidence pertaining to the monuments’ presences, and remembered former presences, in today’s landscape. Focusing on naming practices as memory work in the contemporary landscape, the article explores the names of houses, streets, parks, schools and businesses. It argues for the place-making role of toponomastic evidence, mediated in particular by the materiality of signs themselves. Material and textual citations to the monuments render them integral to local communities’ social memories and borderland identities, even where the dykes have been erased, damaged or obscured by development. Moreover, they have considerable potential future significance for engaging borderland communities in both dykes as part of the longer-term story of their historic environment.

show abstract

Section: Introduction: Living 'After Offa'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Living after Offa: Place-Names and Social Memory in the Welsh Marches

Williams

2020

OD Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Originally built by the Mercian kingdom as a near-continuous linear bank-and-ditch running for up to 62km long between the Dee estuary at Basingwerk (Flintshire) (SJ 195 775) and the Morda Brook south of Maesbury (Shropshire) (SJ 304 257), Wat's Dyke is Britain's second-longest early medieval linear monument after Offa's Dyke (Hill and Worthington 2003;Malim and Hayes 2008;Worthington 1997;Belford 2019;Worthington Hill 2019;Malim 2020) (Figure 1). Traditionally ascribed to the 7th or 8th centuries AD (Fox 1934(Fox , 1955, excavations at Mile Oak, Oswestry indicated an earlier date for its construction in the 5th century (Hannaford 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contentions regarding its date aside, it is no longer conceptualised as a territorial border between polities, but as a multifunctional monumental component of a frontier zone stretching to its west and east (Malim and Hayes 2008;Ray and Bapty 2016). Yet, despite Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust's welcome new excavations at Erddig Hall (Wrexham) involving public engagement activities and digital dissemination (see Belford 2019), this monumental bank-and-ditch has been starkly neglected in regards both public engagement and heritage interpretation (Figure 2). Wat's Dyke today remains an invisible monument: difficult to apprehend and comprehend, thus intangible despite its intermittent monumental tangibility in places.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Let me explain further why this discussion in imperitive. Despite this relative neglect in terms of both archaeological research and heritage conservation, management and interpretation, Wat's Dyke offers manifold opportunities for engagement with local communities about their early medieval past and its complex relationship with the histories of the Anglo-Welsh borderlands, the origins of England and Wales, and the broader shifting significance of frontiers and borderlands in the 21st-century world (see also Belford 2019;Swogger 2019;Williams and Delaney 2019). Wat's Dyke runs for much of its course through arable, pasture and woodland, preserved in many places within historic field boundaries, with some striking rural stretches accessible by public footpaths, including the long distance trail, the Wat's Dyke Way (Figures 3).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This can be a key means of fostering local senses of place and thus ensuring the monument's survival for future generations (for Offa's Dyke, see Ray and Bapty 2016: 373-376). As such, this requirement addresses broader themes in the archaeology and heritage of the Anglo-Welsh borderlands specifically and also the archaeology of frontiers, borderlands and diaspora (see also Belford 2019;Swogger 2019). Furthermore, this is a time of growing English and Welsh regionalisms and nationalisms, as well as broader international debates on borders, national identity and immigration intersecting with perceptions and appropriations of the Early Middle Ages (Williams 2020a; see also Doyle White 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Interpreting Wat’s Dyke in the 21st Century

Williams¹

2020

Public Archaeologies of Frontiers and Borderlands

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Linear monuments offer special challenges in the context of the public archaeology of frontiers and borderlands. This chapter tackles the interpretive neglect of Britain's second-longest early medieval earthwork, Wat's Dyke, showing how its sparse and sporadic archaeological attention is reflected in poor and out-dated public archaeology and heritage interpretation. I evaluate the current media and mechanisms by which various publics -including global digital audiences, visitors to the Anglo-Welsh borderlands through which the monument runs, and local communities living in the Dyke's environs in Flintshire, Wrexham and Shropshire -can access, experience and learn about Wat's Dyke. Having identified how Wat's Dyke is fragmented and obscure in the landscape despite its monumental presence, and how its digital resources are inadequate, I then propose new avenues for developing innovative interpretations of Wat's Dyke for both existing and new audiences which aim to provide upto-date and engaging resources and connect the monument to the rich cultural landscapes, past and present, through which it runs. I argue these recommendations provide the basis for both enhancing awareness and knowledge. I also argue they provide a more robust resources for current and future generations of research and public engagement. I also suggest they serve to combat the risk of pseudo-archaeological narratives and extremist political appropriations of Wat's Dyke.

show abstract

Drawing the Line: What’s Wat’s Dyke? Practice and Process

Swogger¹,

Williams²

2021

OD Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Often neglected and misunderstood, there are considerable challenges to digital and real-world public engagement with Britain’s third-longest linear monument, Wat’s Dyke (Williams 2020a). To foster public education and understanding regarding of Wat’s Dyke’s relationship to the broader story of Anglo-Welsh borderlands, but also to encourage the monument’s management and conservation, we proposed the creation of a comic heritage trail (Swogger and Williams 2020). Funded by the University of Chester and the Offa’s Dyke Association, we selected one prominent stretch where Wat’s Dyke is mainly damaged and fragmentary and yet also there remain well-preserved and monumental sections. Around Wrexham, Wat’s Dyke navigates varied topographies including following and crossing river valleys, and it is accessible to the public in the vicinity of North Wales’s largest town. In this article we outline the dialogue and decision-making process behind the map and 10-panel comic: What’s Wat’s Dyke? Wrexham Comic Heritage Trail (Swogger and Williams 2021; Williams and Swogger 2021a–b). In particular, we consider the stages taken to adapt from the initial plan of producing a bilingual map guide in response to the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. This digital resource, published online in Welsh and English, guides visitors and locals alike along a central stretch of Wat’s Dyke around Wrexham town from Bryn Alyn hillfort to the north to Middle Sontley to the south. The comic heritage trail thus responds to the highly fragmented nature of the monument and utilises the linearity of Wat’s Dyke as a gateway to explore the complex Anglo-Welsh borderlands from prehistory to the present day. Building on earlier discussions (Swogger 2019), What’s Wat’s Dyke? illustrates the potential of future projects which use comics to explore linear monuments and linear heritage features (from ancient trackways and roads to railways and canals) constructed across the world from prehistory to recent times.

show abstract

Hidden Earthworks: Excavation and Protection of Offa’s and Wat’s Dykes

Cited by 7 publications

References 1 publication

Living after Offa: Place-Names and Social Memory in the Welsh Marches

Living after Offa: Place-Names and Social Memory in the Welsh Marches

Interpreting Wat’s Dyke in the 21st Century

Drawing the Line: What’s Wat’s Dyke? Practice and Process

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About