Wat's Dyke

After the hillfort had been abandoned it became incorporated into a linear earthwork known as Wat's Dyke.

Wat’s Dyke and Offa’s dyke were built near the modern border with Wales.This map is based upon Ordnance Survey material with the permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office © Crown copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. English Heritage 100019088. 2006 The much-reduced remains of the Dyke are a slight bank running beside the house at the base of the hill. A hedge line marks the Dyke, where it continued on the north side of the hillfort. 

Wat's Dyke is 40 miles long and originally consisted of a substantial bank with a deep ditch on the Welsh side. The Dyke is carefully aligned to occupy a strong strategic position between the Shropshire/Cheshire lowlands and the Welsh Hills.

Wat's Dyke is one of a number of linear earthworks in the Welsh borders, and is similar to the longer Offa's Dyke. This was probably built by King Offa in the 8th century to separate his Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia from the British kingdoms in Wales. 

Unlike Offa, 'Wat' is not a known historical figure and recent dating evidence suggests that Wat's Dyke was probably built some time before Offa's Dyke.  Perhaps it was an earlier border between the Anglo-Saxon and British population or perhaps it defined the western boundary of a now forgotten kingdom which ruled the Shropshire/Cheshire area in the post-Roman period?