Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke (Welsh: Clawdd Offa) is a large linear earthwork that roughly follows the border between England and Wales. The structure is named after Offa, the Anglo-Saxon king of Mercia from AD 757 until 796, who is traditionally believed to have ordered its construction. Although its precise original purpose is debated, it delineated the border between Anglian Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Powys.
Clawdd Offa | |
Offa's Dyke near Clun, Shropshire, England | |
| Location | England–Wales border |
|---|---|
| Designer | King Offa |
| Type | Earthwork |
| Material | Earth |
| Length | 82 mi (132 km) but covers an area of up to 150 mi (240 km) |
| Width | 20 m (66 ft) |
| Height | 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) |
| Completion date | 784 |
The earthwork, which was up to 65 feet (20 m) wide (including its flanking ditch) and 8 feet (2.4 m) high, traversed low ground, hills and rivers. Today it is protected as a scheduled monument. Some of its route is followed by the Offa's Dyke Path, a 177-mile (285 km) long-distance footpath that runs between Liverpool Bay in the north and the Severn Estuary in the south.
Although the Dyke has conventionally been dated to the Early Middle Ages of Anglo-Saxon England, research in recent decades – using techniques such as radioactive carbon dating – has challenged the conventional historiography and theories about the earthwork and shows that part was started in the early 5th century, during the sub-Roman period.