Comment Post

Re: Was Offa's Dyke Offa's dyke? by Anonymous on Saturday, 09 July 2011

Hi, if anyone's still reading this thread!

I've been interested in Offa's Dyke for a while, my main curiosity being that there is no reference to its construction in Anglo-Saxon literature. Surely, given the scale of the project, there would some contemporary, or later, reference to it apart from a few lines?

I'm not sold on the idea that the present structure was constructed in the time of Severus; if that was the case then it would have more formal Roman construction characteristics and would be similar to the Antonine turf wall in Scotland which it isn't. Also it appears that it covers over at least one Roman road.

That's not to say Offa necessarily built it though. Wat's Dyke and the new dating evidence for late 5th century is the clue. From this I speculate that Wat's Dyke may have been an earlier version of Offa's Dyke, which was then superceded as it became apparent something more substantial was required. This is suggested by the fact both Dykes run parallel to each other.

I see the likeliest author of both projects to be the crisis-stricken Romano-British culture at the very end of Roman rule. Wales had only been superficially Romanized, and I would venture that after the legions departed order broke down rapidly and Wales—or its invaders—began to pose a threat to sub-Roman England which at the time was attempting to carry on a semblance of Roman life—repairs to buildings and new works have been noted at Wroxeter as late as the 6th century.

Earth works are a characteristically British form of defence, and it is likely—if the Dyke is of Sub-Roman origin like Wat’s Dyke—that the 5th century Romano-British would have used traditional techniques well known to them rather than try to exactly emulate a Roman defensive wall, which they neither had the engineering skills left to do, or probably the money. While the Dyke uses basic traditional technology, the psychology and attitude behind it is very Roman.

Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road