Footprints - The Dark Ages
How dark were the Dark Ages (AD 400 –1000)? Bede, an 8th century chronicler, records a great battle near Chester between the Welsh and the Northumbrians around AD615. The victorious Northumbrians slaughtered the monks of Bangor and destroyed the 6th century monastery.
The king, image from the Laws of Hywel Dda, Peniarth Ms.28
© National Library of Wales
This battle was part of a long struggle between the Welsh and the Saxons for territory in this part of Wales. The Saxons dominated north-east Wales during the 8th – 10th centuries. About this time, a settlement grew up on the flat ground above the meadows of the River Gwenfro. The settlement’s original name, possibly Wryghtelsham, Wrechessham or Wristlesham, comes from the old English for Wryhtel’s river meadow.
The King’s steward, image from the Laws of Hywel Dda, Peniarth Ms.28
© National Library of Wales
The two great monuments, Offa’s and Wat’s Dykes, date from this period. Building them was no small feat of engineering – Wat’s Dyke is 28 miles long, its ditch 6 metres wide and 2½ metres deep, and the bank 2 metres high and possibly topped with a wooden palisade or wall. It was built for defence and follows a strategic boundary. Offa’s Dyke marked a political boundary, either agreed or imposed by Offa, the 8th century king of Mercia.
The dykes failed to stabilise the frontier. The Saxons advanced further west in the 9th century, but the Welsh re-conquered this area during the 11th century.
Stauell Gynddylan ys tywyll heno
Heb dan, heb wey
Wylaf wers; tawaf wedy.
Rex nomine Offa, qui vallum
magnum inter Britannium atque Merciam de mari usque ad mare fieri imperavit.
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