Coming Home

      The last group of posts have presented a number of topics that have all related to my Celtic ancestors. When they started in the land that was to become Wales, and how they survived and passed that DNA to me, has been a central theme.  These posts have included a number of factors. Along the road of this historic travel, the movement of life between the highlands and lowlands of what is now Welsh boarder country, has been considered as a main seasonal activity of this Celtic group of folks. Wat's Dyke has been a geographic landmark from many writers that have viewed it being a product of Mercian folks around 750 A.D. After examination from a variety of angles (previous posts) it would seem that Wat's Dyke was named using the Anglo-Saxon word for "guard" and in my mind a hedge ditch was already in place providing a cattle and sheep fence to help control the large number of herds that were driven seasonally from the grazing land (summer home) to the winter survival areas (winter home) This hedge was needed so that the fields of barley corn could be protected. From Old Oswestry on the southern border of Wat's dyke, to Wrexham on the northern border, the cattle and sheep would need to be separated from one another.  The sheep being grouped and sheared in the western side of Old Oswestry Hillfort, and the cattle being driven to the slaughter and hide manufacturing locations that was to become Wrexham. The sheep would need their wool collected, cleaned, treated, and bundled for transport to Shrewsberry. Likewise, the cattle would need to be slaughtered, skinned, meat salted, hides processed, and all the leather products organized. Estimated to be around 4,000 to 5,000 sheep in the month of June, giving pack animals of half sacks loaded from the wool of 90 to 125 sheep. 

       Here is a drawing taken from Guile's book Life In A Medieval Village, p.66. This of course would be many, many years after the Celtic folks faced the same community activities, needing 180 sheep per day being sheared and the wool processed. The hedge (Wat's Dyke) would be a significant help keeping things from getting out of hand and messing up the corn fields. The sheep and cows coming home.