Datganiad Cadwraeth Clawdd Offa Offa's Dyke Conservation ...

22 Datganiad Cadwraeth Clawdd OffaOffa's Dyke Conservation Statement 22Astudiaeth academaidd o’r clawdd3.20 Dylanwad pwysig ar sut y mae’r clawdd wedi ei drin a’iweld yn ddiweddar yw’r syniad datblygiadol bod yr henebynyn bwysig nid yn unig fel nodwedd yn y dirwedd, gyda gwerthswyddogaethol beunyddiol parhaus, ond hefyd ei fod ynarwyddocaol ynddo’i hun fel tystiolaeth unigryw a bregus o’ntarddiad hanesyddol ni.3.21 Mae presenoldeb Clawdd Offa wedi ei gofnodi ynrheolaidd gan hynafiaethwyr o’r cyfnod Tuduraidd ymlaen, yncynnwys yn nodedig y sgolor 16eg ganrif Leland (1539) aPennant, oedd yn ysgrifennu ar ddiwedd y 18fed ganrif(Pennant 1783). Ganol y 19eg ganrif, dechreuodd ymchwilwyrmegis Fosbroke (1832), Jones (1856) a Guest (1858) ddatblygudehongliad mwy manwl o’r clawdd yn seiliedig ar arolwg maespersonol. Erbyn diwedd y 19eg ganrif, roedd yr ArolwgOrdnans wedi cofnodi hynt y clawdd yn gywir, ac roeddcloddio archaeolegol hefyd yn dechrau cael ei ddefnyddio iarchwilio’r henebyn (Mckenny Hughes 1893).3.22 Erbyn heddiw, mae’r farn ar y clawdd yn bennaf wedi eiseilio ar raglen o waith arolwg maes yr ymgymerodd Syr CyrilFox ag ef rhwng 1925 a 1932 (Fox 1955). Ar ôl Fox, ychydig owaith ymchwil a wnaed tan ddechrau’r 1970au, pangychwynnodd David Hill a’i fyfyrwyr o Adran Efrydiau AllanolPrifysgol Manceinion ar raglen o arolygu a chloddiadaugraddfa fechan ar hyd y gwrthglawdd. Mae’r clawdd hefydwedi ei archwilio mewn nifer o gloddiadau ‘achub’ (ee Allen1988), ac mae gwaith ymchwil gwerthfawr Frank Noble (1983),ymhlith eraill, wedi dechrau cynnwys archwilio’r cyfoeth oddeunydd dogfennol canoloesol a diweddarach sy’ngysylltiedig â’r henebyn. Ganol y 1990au roedd darn o GlawddOffa yn Swydd Gaerloyw yn destun archwiliad archaeolegolmanwl gan Wasanaeth Archaeolegol Cyngor Sir SwyddGaerloyw (Hoyle a Vallender 1997).Academic study of the dyke3.20 A major influence on the treatment and perception ofthe dyke in recent times has been the emerging idea that themonument is important not just as a landscape feature withongoing everyday functional value, but that it also hassignificance in itself as unique and fragile evidence of ourhistorical origins.3.21 The presence of Offa’s Dyke was routinely noted byantiquarians from Tudor times onwards, notably including the16th-century scholar Leland (1539), and Pennant writing at theend of the 18th century (Pennant 1783). In the mid 19thcentury, researchers such as Fosbroke (1832), Jones (1856)and Guest (1858) began to develop more detailedinterpretations of the dyke based on first hand field survey. Bythe later 19th century, not only was the course of the dykeaccurately recorded by the Ordnance Survey, butarchaeological excavation was also beginning to be used toinvestigate the monument (Mckenny Hughes 1893).3.22 The present day view of the dyke is substantiallyfounded on the programme of field survey undertaken by SirCyril Fox between 1925 and 1932 (Fox 1955). After Fox, littleresearch work was undertaken until the early 1970s, whenDavid Hill and his students from the Extra Mural DepartmentOf Manchester University embarked on an ongoingprogramme of survey and small-scale excavations along theearthwork. The dyke has also been investigated in a number of‘rescue’ excavations (eg Allen 1988), and valuable research byFrank Noble (1983), among others, has begun to explore thewealth of medieval and later documentary material relating tothe monument. In the mid 1990s the stretch of Offa’s Dyke inGloucestershire was subject to detailed archaeological surveyby the Gloucestershire County Council Archaeology Service(Hoyle and Vallender 1997).Newidiadau yn y dirwedd yn y 19eg a’r20fed ganrif3.23 Nid yw cynnydd yn yr ymwybyddiaeth o arwyddocâdhanesyddol Clawdd Offa wedi gwarchod y gwrthglawdd rhagdifrod gan ddatblygiad tirwedd modern. Mor gynnar â 1857,roedd aelodau Cymdeithas Archaeolegol Cambrian yn dystionanghymeradwyol pan dynnwyd rhan o’r clawdd i lawr ynystod ymweliad maes â Lymore. Er bod y darn wedi eiailadeiladu wedi hynny, roedd difrod o’r fath yn gyffredin oganlyniad i welliannau amaethyddol y 19eg ganrif. Roedd twfdiwydiannol a threfol cynyddol yn y 19eg ganrif hefyd ynarwain at ddinistrio rhannau arwyddocaol o’r clawdd, gydacholledion nodedig yn gysylltiedig â chwareli carreg galch ynNyffryn Gwy, a chloddio am lo a datblygiadau diwydiannol19th and 20th-century landscape changes3.23 Increasing awareness of the historical significance ofOffa’s Dyke has not protected the earthwork from damage bymodern landscape development. As early as 1857, members ofthe Cambrian Archaeological Association disapprovinglywitnessed the removal of part of the dyke during a field visit toLymore, and although this section of the monument wassubsequently rebuilt, such damage was a commonconsequence of 19th-century agricultural improvement.Increasing 19th-century industrial and urban growth alsoresulted in significant destruction of the dyke, with notablelosses associated with limestone quarrying in the Wye Valley,and with coal mining and other industrial development in the