Offa’s Dyke – Walking the Boundary of King Offa’s Mercia
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As you walk the Offa’s Dyke path, you are walking through history, following the course of an ancient earthwork believed to date from the late 8th century. This path is 117 miles (190 km) in length, going from Chepstow on the Severn Estuary and heading north to Prestatyn on the north Wales coast. The walk offers amazing scenery and a variety of terrain, with the remote and sparsely populated countryside affording a wide range of plants, animals, birds and butterflies.
Offa’s Dyke takes its name from King Offa who ruled the English kingdom of Mercia from 757 to 796 and to whom its construction is attributed. Its earthwork is defensive and is of immense proportions, criss-crossing the modern border between England and Wales. The route is lined with abbeys and castles, some dating from shortly after the Norman conquest of 1066.
The walk begins in the town of Chepstow, whose castle dating from 1067 is open throughout the year. Just outside Chepstow the path starts to follow an almost unbroken section of the dyke for the 81 miles of the 6 day walk. Along the way you see some of the most stunning scenery of the border country. Castles, walled towns and remains of fortifications are spectacular and of great historical interest. This part of the path oozes history – the ruins of Tintern Abbey that was founded in 1131 by Cistercian monks, White Castle with its water filled moat, Monmouth with its 13th century gatehouse, and the churches of St Teilo at Llantilio Crossenny and St Cadoc’s at Llangattocklingoed. At Longtown you see Longtown Castle, one of the oldest circular keeps in Britain.
The final day’s walking is indisputably the best, following the dyke as you cross unspoilt border country to the market town of Knighton which is home of the Offa’s Dyke Association and the exhibition about King Offa and the dyke.
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