Offa's Dyke - Historical evidence, Cultural references, Bibliography, On-line

An interrupted linear earthwork 130 km/80 mi long - the gaps originally thick forest - linking the R Dee near Prestatyn, N Wales, UK, with the Severn Estuary at Chepstow. Erected in the late 8th-c AD by Offa, King of Mercia, to define the W boundary of his kingdom, it marks the traditional boundary between England and Wales. Offa's Dyke Path, opened in 1971, follows most of its course.

That he was able to raise the manpower and resources to construct such an earthwork as Offa's Dyke is testament to his power. It is likely that some form of 'service' system was used to construct the Dyke, with men from certain areas of land being required to build a certain length of the wall. Though there is little evidence to associate the document with the Dyke, it is possible that both Dyke and document stem from a common practice.

Historical evidence

The late 9th- and early 10th-century writer Asser informed us that 'there was in Mercia in fairly recent time a certain vigorous king called Offa, who terrified all the neighbouring kings and provinces around him, and who had a great dyke built between Wales and Mercia from sea to sea' (Asser, Life of Alfred, 14). The last four words are vital: historians and archaeologists coming to the Dyke have had Asser in their hand, looking for an earthwork 'from sea to sea'. Sir Cyril Fox completed the first major survey of the Dyke (Fox 1955), and, in agreement with Asser, saw the Dyke as running from the estuary of the River Dee in the north to the River Wye in the south (approximately 150 miles, or 240 km). It was understood by him that the dyke was not continuous, being built only in areas where natural barriers did not already exist.

Frank Stenton, the Anglo-Saxon historian of his day, accepted Fox's description, and wrote the introduction to Fox's account of the Dyke. Though Fox's work has now been to some extent revised, it remains a vital record of how areas of the Dyke, now destroyed, existed in 1931. His greatest contribution to Offa's Dyke was to stir up new academic interest. His MPhil thesis, "Offa's Dyke Reviewed", raised several questions regarding the Dyke. Noble also was vital in establishing the Offa's Dyke Association, which maintains the Offa's Dyke Path, a footpath which mostly follows the route of the dyke, which is one of the designated British National Trails.

Ongoing research and archaeology on Offa's Dyke has been undertaken for many years by the Extra-Mural department of the University of Manchester. Most recently David Hill and Margaret Worthington have undertaken considerable research on the Dyke. Their work, though far from finished, has demonstrated that there is little evidence for the Dyke stretching from sea to sea. Dykes in the far north and south may date differently, and though they may be connected with Offa's Dyke, there is as yet no compelling evidence behind this.

Cultural references

The Dyke has in some cases been brought into common folklore, though this should not be seen as historical evidence for the purpose behind the Dyke.

"[I]t was customary for the English to cut off the ears of every Welshman who was found to the east of the dyke, and for the Welsh to hang every Englishman whom they found to the west of it." George Borrow, Wild Wales [from folklore]

Bibliography

Cyril Fox, Offa's Dyke: a Field Survey of the Western Frontier Works of Mercia in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries AD, (London, 1955) Frank Noble, Offa's Dyke Reviewed, MPhil thesis Open University, (1978). Margaret Gelling, (Oxford, 1983) David Hill and Margaret Worthington, Offa's Dyke: History and Guide, (Stroud, 2003)

On-line

Offa's Dyke Association website Rambers' Association: Offa's Dyke Path National Trail Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust: Introducing Offa's Dyke