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Can you imagine standing at the junction of Plas Acton Road and Blue Bell Lane in Pandy north of Wrexham when Wat’s Dyke was newly built by the Mercian kings, over 1,200 years ago during the Early Middle Ages?
Britain’s third-longest ancient monument, Wat’s Dyke commanded the western slopes and scarps of the River Alyn for about twelve kilometres south from Mynydd Isa to augment the already ancient ramparts of Bryn Alyn Iron Age hillfort.
At Bryn Alyn, Wat’s Dyke reused the west-facing defences of the hillfort, which had been built at least 1,000 years earlier. The interior of the hillfort was reoccupied either as a fort or a seasonal assembly place. The reuse of the hillfort meant that the loop of the River Alyn around a strategic peninsula was well-guarded.
The Dyke then dropped down from the hillfort following the river cliff. The Alyn itself may have been blocked with chains. The line of the Dyke is lost as it once climbed the steep, now-wooded slopes through Wilderness Wood to where you now stand.
Excavation would help us further understand precisely what the monument looked like, where it went and why.
In this image we give an impression of the newly dug ditch, the bank topped with a palisade. Wat’s Dyke is shown garrisoned by Mercian warriors and supported by beacons and watch towers. Was it guarded seasonally or all year round? Was it short-lived or fortified over many decades? Archaeologists are still unsure…
Go South to Wat’s Dyke at Pandy
Access: On foot via Blue Bell Lane. West over the railway bridge, you can walk down a footpath opposite Plas Acton Cemetery to the River Alyn although no traces of Wat’s Dyke survive here. There is no bicycle or mobility scooter access down this footpath. Bryn Alyn hillfort is situated on private land.
The Offa's Dyke Collaboratory 