Offa's Dyke

Today's the day .......................... to build a wall

We walked along a bit of the long-distance footpath known as Offa's Dyke Path today.  The footpath runs for some 177 miles more or less following the border between Wales and England from Prestatyn on the north Wales coast to Chepstow on the Severn Estuary. 

Offa's Dyke itself, from which the path takes its name, is an amazing 1200 year old linear earthwork.  It consists of an earthen bank which can be up to 8 metres high, associated with a ditch to the west, and typically occupies an imposing position in the landscape with fine and commanding views into Wales. It is possible that some kind of palisade or wall also existed on top of the earthwork.  The 'Offa' of Offa's Dyke was King of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Mercia from 757-796 AD. Mercia, centred on what is today the English Midlands and through military campaigns and political alliance, Offa established Mercian control over the majority of what we now call England. He was a powerful and successful leader - and it is thought that the building of the Dyke was an attempt to rationalise a western boundary between Mercia and the independent Welsh Kingdoms to the west, who Offa had fought against with only partial success.

In a way, however, Offa's great earthwork has historical significance beyond the immediate context of ancient Mercia. It could be said that it was part of the process that was happening across Anglo-Saxon Britain and contemporary Europe around then which would eventually lead to the emergence of the geographical and cultural domains - such as England and Wales - that we live with today. It certainly would have helped to create a common sense of unity among Welsh peoples which had not previously existed. 

I wonder if the same sort of thing might happen when Mr Trump builds his wall to separate off Mexico from the USA .............................?