It is a long while since we have put any news up on our blog. We have been busy digging a small trench over a linear feature running along the western edge of the Caer Alyn plateau north of the Bryn Alyn hillfort. The blog below has been written by Annabelle Rogers, one of our amazing team!
Although sections of the early medieval linear earthwork, Wat’s Dyke, have been located to the north and south of the Caer Alyn plateau, and the most direct course between these parts of the earthwork would run along the western edge of the plateau and the fort, the existence of the dyke has not been proven at Caer Alyn.
A geophysics survey in 2006 showed a high resistance linear feature running along the western edge of the field to the immediate north of the fort, with what appeared to be a shallow ditch on the eastern side. A low grass-covered bank can also be seen in places along the ridge.
So on 19th March 2022, we chose a section of this bank, approximately 85m from the entrance to the fort, to investigate. This spot was chosen as a compacted slope of large stones and pebbles was visible on the western side of the bank, running down from the ridge towards the Alyn valley, and sitting immediately above a narrow platform approximately 1 m in width.
Excavations to date have revealed a stone-covered bank approximately 2-3 metres in width. As excavations progress, we hope to find the apparent ditch that appears on the geophysics. Finds to date have been post-medieval or modern.
On 24th April, Professor Howard Williams, of the University of Chester, visited us. Howard founded & is co-convenor of the Offa’s Dyke Collaboratory, a research network for Offa’s & Wat’s Dykes and early medieval western Britain and has written extensively about Wat’s Dyke. He is of the opinion that the bank we have revealed could well be a section of Wat’s Dyke as it appears to be of the right scale and construction. There should be a ditch on the western side of the bank if it is the dyke, but the slope along the ridge is extremely steep, and there is evidence of erosion, so any ditch that existed may have been filled in or its western edge eroded away. Howard made some very helpful suggestions as to how to proceed with the excavation and it was a very interesting visit, which went a long way to confirming our original ideas about the position of Wat’s Dyke at Caer Alyn. Excavations are continuing……
Caer Alyn 