Comic panel 6
In Court Wood, part of the National Trust’s Erddig Park, you can walk along Wat’s Dyke where it joins and follows the top of the scarp above the Clywedog Valley. Fence lines of private houses are on top of the bank, but the ditch and front of the bank remains to be seen along two stretches.
Now eroded away, Wat’s Dyke originally dropped down to cross the valley floor at the confluence of the Clywedog and the Black Brook before rising up steep slopes again at Erddig Castle. Just as at the Alyn River below Bryn Alyn hillfort (panel 1), here the Dyke would have blocked passage and visually dominated the Clywedog valley.
The river’s steep natural scarp together with the bank-and-ditch (perhaps supported by watch towers, beacons and controlled gates) provided a complex frontier work. The Dyke curtailed and controlled the movement of people with their animals and goods; farmers and traders could be protected and directed to pay tolls during peacetime, just as raiders could be observed and intercepted in times of war.
Here, a Mercian thegn on horseback and his warriors intercept farmers bringing their cattle to market.
Go North to Wat’s Dyke at the Cemetery
Go South to Wat’s Dyke at Erddig Castle
Access
On foot: 300-700m walk on steep narrow footpaths around the Erddig parkland clearly marked and accessible from both Wrexham and Erddig Hall. No bicycle or mobility scooter access.
By car: park in the layby of the A5152 opposite Wrexham Cemetery, or else use the National Trust car parks at Felin Puleston Outdoor Centre or Erddig National Trust main car park.
The Offa's Dyke Collaboratory 