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Offa's Dyke: Section W of Court House Farm is an early medieval linear earthwork that forms part of the famous dyke built along the English-Welsh border. This section lies in Wales on bedrock composed of Wenlock Rocks, a formation of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone dating from the Wenlock period. The varied geology of this location would have presented different challenges to the construction teams, with harder sandstone bands interspersed with softer, more easily worked mudstones and siltstones.
The monument is protected by Cadw, the Welsh heritage organisation, under reference MG138. As a component of the larger defensive or territorial boundary system attributed to the 8th century, this section represents the substantial engineering effort required to extend the dyke across varied terrain. The linear earthwork would originally have comprised a substantial bank with an accompanying ditch, designed to impede movement across the border landscape.
Today, the surviving earthwork at Court House Farm remains an important archaeological resource, allowing study of construction methods and the dyke's course through this particular stretch of borderland. The monument contributes to understanding how early medieval powers controlled and defined territorial boundaries using large-scale landscape engineering.
Offa's Dyke: Section W of Court House Farm is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference MG138. View the official record →
Offa's Dyke: Section W of Court House Farm is an early medieval linear earthwork that forms part of the famous dyke built along the English-Welsh border. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference MG138.
Offa's Dyke: Section W of Court House Farm dates from the early medieval period, and is classified as a linear earthwork. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Offa's Dyke: Section W of Court House Farm is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is MG138.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Motte castle 400m north east of Upper Gwarthlow Farm (7.2 km), Calcot Camp (7.4 km), Upper Aldress Moated Site (8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Offa's Dyke: Section W of Court House Farm's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Offa's Dyke: Section W of Court House Farm stands on Wenlock Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.