Back to CPAT homepage

The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust News Pages

Healthy numbers at Trefnanny!

A healthy number of the Trefnanny Women’s Institute turned out on a foul summer evening, if one can call September 3rd summer, to hear David Vaughan give a talk on the Portable Antiquities Scheme and the Trust’s ongoing involvement with this important facility for the reporting of archaeological finds. Richly illustrated with some of the many items lodged with the Trust during the past year, the presentation was very well received and led to a broader discussion on modern day archaeology and its purpose within the wider social and commercial environments. Afterwards, David was invited to judge the flower competition which drew very heavily on his knowledge of gardening!

5000 years of history in the Walton Basin

Members of the Radnorshire Society were history hunting in the Walton Basin near Prestiegne recently. Seen here talking to Nigel Jones of CPAT, they were out and about to look at trial excavations on a site that despite its great age was only discovered in the past couple of years. The site in question, which survives only as cropmarks and came to light through aerial survey, is thought to be a rare Neolithic 'causwayed' enclosure and may well be over 5000 years old.

As part of a long term Wales-wide project looking at prehistoric ritual and funeray sites CPAT have been undertaking survey work and the exploratory dig, that you (and the Radnorshire Society) can see here, to test this theory and try to recover some form of dating evidence - such as pottery or organic material that might be radio-carbon dated - as well as to examine the form of the buried remains. The excavation confirmed that the site had been enclosed by a large ditch, which could certainly be a prehistoric feature, although conclusive dating evidence from this phase of the work has proved more elusive. Society members were fascinated to see the work in progress and will be keeping a keen eye on future developments.

Talk gets the thumbs up!

Tuesday 19th of August saw CPAT staff visiting Newtown Day Hospice located at the Montgomery County Infirmary to give an illustrated presentation about the Roman archaeology of Caersws. The audience of 10 heard about the two forts present, the development of an adjacent Vicus (civilian settlement) and the features remaining in the landscape that tell of this past Roman activity. At the end of the presentation replica Roman coins and original sherds of Roman pottery were handed around for careful study.

Yet another Roman Invasion

We did not however meet their ghosts - the centurion is, I hope, simply a digital camera trick.

The Roman army built even its marching camps to the same pattern as the permanent forts: they were protected by ramparts and gates and contained tented barracks, headquarters, commissariat and stores buildings.

After spending almost 2 hours exploring the 15 hectare camp we crossed the stream and climbed onto the adjacent ridge to the east where we walked to the Maen-serth standing stone associated in legend with the unlawful killing by Roger Mortimer, in 1170s, of the brothers Cadwallon and Einon Clud, kinsmen of the Lord Rhys. This elegant standing stone was probably actually set up in the Bronze Age, some 2,000 years before the Romans marched across these hills and 3,000 before the days of the Welsh princes whose name is also sometimes given to this stone.

Walking north, back along the ridge we also stopped to look at a large Bronze Age burial cairn which was probably 'quarried' in the 19th century during the building of the Mountain Road leaving it with its present bowl-shape. A low stone circle or kerb probably defined this cairn: some of these stones can still be seen on its northern side. Another probably-Bronze Age standing stone lies further north along the bridle way - the white quartz chunk called Maengwyngweddw.

Weather and Hillforts - Penycloddiau with the University of the Third Age

A hardy band of a dozen or so members of the Flintshire group of the University of the Third Age braved the July weather to visit the (usually) magnificent Iron Age Hillfort at Penycloddiau in the Clwydian Hills on the Flintshire - Denbighshire border. They were led around the site by CPAT's Nigel Jones who explained the origins of the spectacular earthwork - the 22 hectare site is enclosed by over 2 kilometres of earth ramparts standing several metres high - and told them all about the recent excavation work undertaken there by CPAT as part of Denbighshire County Council's Heather and Hillforts project.

Despite the appalling weather, which even in the Clwydians is usually better than this by the 17th July, the group thoroughly enjoyed themselves and felt it had all been worthwhile - indeed you can see in the photograph that some of them are actually smiling! Once safe on dry land, group organiser Hilary Jones emailed me to say . . .

"It was a dreadful morning weather wise but Nigel did a most interesting walk and talk, and really opened our eyes to what was up there. It made such a difference to have an expert with us pointing out and explaining things we would have missed completely."

National Archaeology Week 2008

National Archaeology Week started with a clash of swords in Loggerheads Country Park near Mold, on the weekend of the 12th and 13th of July. Organised by Denbighshire County Council, this was the start of a busy week with various activities for children and adults. CPAT were there on the Saturday making medieval shields and Saxon and Roman brooches. A wet and windy morning gave way to a sunny afternoon and didn't put off over a hundred people from joining in the fun.

Jeff Spencer, Abi McCullough and Sophie Watson from CPAT were on hand to help people, especially as some were very keen to make 'authentic' shields. We had a list of the meanings of some common heraldic symbols; popular choices were lions, symbolising bravery, and flowers, symbolising peace and joy. The CPAT staff members also made shields of their own - all in the name of education! On both days, the medieval re-enactment group Samhain were also present, with demonstrations of many aspects of medieval life.

To find out more about National Archaeology Week with CPAT follow this link

The Romans march north (again)

Being a Local Tourist in Welshpool

A dozen dedicated people turned out to hear Chris Martin talk about Archaeology in and around Welshpool at the Corn Exchange in Welshpool's Town Hall on the 8th July. The event had been organised by the Town Council as part of its inaugural Be a Local Tourist Week, during which locals have been encouraged to look at their town in a new light and get the chance to see and hear what Welshpool has to offer. The audience were regaled with fascinating information about all periods of the town and its surrounding area's history, illustrated by examples of the work of the Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust over the past thirty years. As with the rest of the week's events the talk was very well received and those attending went away in eager anticipation of CPAT's guided history walk around the town on 10th July . . . . . . . . and indeed the crowds did turn out for Jeff's walk about Welshpool on the 10th. Sixteen eager individuals accompanied him on a tour around some of the key historic sites of the town. They were intrigued by the fine 18th and 19th century street frontages, many of which disguise earlier medieval buildings, they also heard about the early motte and bailey castle, its associated town and their Roman predecessors. To find out more about the history of Welshpool follow this link.

After the walk we received a surprise, but very welcome, email from Forest Hills (yes, that's the one in New York, USA) to say . . .

I was visiting from the States, and this was one of the highlights of my stay in Welshpool. Jeff was informative, knowledgeable, and charming and his talk taught me much about the area that I hadn't known before. Thank you for participating in Be a Local Tourist Week and for making it so exciting!

Top finds in August from Wrexham Heritage Society

‘Top finds’ reported this quarter were a possible late prehistoric or Roman knife handle terminal in the shape of a human head and shoulders, a medieval open-topped thimble and a medieval matrix for forming a wax seal.

The Romans march north

Tea, photographs and archaeology at Carno

Llanelwedd Bronze Age burial cairn

Builth Wells and District Heritage Society hosted a talk in Buith Wells library on 26 June about the recent excavation by the Trust of a Bronze Age cairn in Llanelwedd Quarry. The meeting was attended by an enthusiastic audience of 24 members of the society who raised many interesting points about the site in a 'question and answer' session which followed the talk. There was some discussion about the Reverend Edmondes Owen of Llanelwedd who first excavated the site in 1906 and who is still revered locally.

A popular booklet has been produced about the excavations which were carried out with funding from the Aggregates Levy Sustainabilty Fund and Cadw in advance of an extension to the quarry.

Download a copy of the Llanelwedd Bronze Age burial cairn booklet here

CPAT at Leicester Deserted Villages Conference

Bob Silvester of CPAT presented a paper to the conference in Leicester celebrating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Deserted Medieval Villages Research Group on the 21st June this year. The paper, which was warmly welcomed by a 110 strong audience, examined the abandonment of the uplands of Wales and the south-west of England by communities during the medieval and post-medieval eras.

Neolithic Settlement found at Borras

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a Neolithic settlement at Tarmac’s quarry at Borras near Wrexham. The discovery was made while conducting a watching brief, during the removal of topsoil and subsoil in preparation for gravel extraction at the new Holt Estate section of the quarry.

Tarmac have now suspended operations whilst archaeologists from CPAT excavate the remains, which are thought to be around 4,000 years old.

This is an important discovery as there is currently very little evidence for Neolithic settlement in this part of Wales. A team of archaeologists will start excavating the site on 16th June and although at present the full extent of the remains is not known the excavation is likely to continue for several weeks. It is hoped that the excavations will reveal more evidence for occupation, possibly including the remains of timber houses.

Since news of the find went public, the story has been carried by a number of news organisations, not to mention the large number of news blogs and archaeological websites that have linked to these from all over Europe. See what some of them have to say by following the links below . . .

Tarmac website - Neolithic settlement uncovered at Borras Quarry
The Chester Evening Leader - Quarry dig unearths a slice of town's history
The Daily Post - Stone Age revelation in Wrexham's Borras quarry
BBC News website - Dig unearths Neolithic settlement
BBC North East Wales Weblog - Stone Age site found at Borras quarry
The Wrexham Business Blog - Ian Lucas MP praises archaeological site work by Tarmac Ltd

Medieval farms and farming in the Elan Valley

CPAT at Bryn Euryn Local Nature Reserve Open Day

Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust contributed to Conwy County Borough Council Countryside Services’ very successful June 2008 open day, organised as part of Wales Biodiversity Week, at Bryn Euryn Local Nature Reserve at Rhos on Sea that attracted about 200 people. Jeff Spencer led interested local people of all ages on a guided walk that stopped first at Llys Euryn, the large, defensible house built in the 15th century for the eldest son of Gryffydd Goch the leader of a medieval Welsh tribal division. He gave an explanation of how the building developed over time and how it became the imposing (conserved) ruin it is now. The happy band of adventurers then sauntered on (in gloriously warm weather) up ‘the Bryn’ to study the Iron Age hillfort and tantalising remains of a superimposed ‘Dark Age’ fortification that may just be that recorded in rare documentary sources of the early medieval period as the site of the stronghold of Cynlas Goch, the 6th century ruler of Rhos also known as the ‘Red Bear’. Follow this link to find out more about the work of Conwy County Borough Council's Countryside Service.

The Romans are coming!

Recent work in southern Powys

Nigel Jones of CPAT's Field Services and Contracts team enthralled a 30 stong audience, at the 29th May meeting of the Llangynidr Local History Society, with his talk about some of our recent work in Brecknock. Topics ranged from the Trust's on-going surveys of prehistoric funerary and ritual monuments, prehistoric round huts, and defended enclosures and excavation work at the nearby Penygaer Roman fort to historic landscape characterization and building recording at Spite Inn Farm on the Sennybridge military range.

Open day in Machynlleth

A report on CPAT's survey work can be found on our project reports page, and further information about The Tabernacle Trust and the Museum of Modern Art Cymru can be found by following this link. Follow this link for more background on this story in the County Times

Vale Vintage Ports . . . . and mustard?

Twenty five members of the Vale Vintage Machinery Society welcomed Nigel Jones of CPAT to their meeting at the Denbigh Rugby Club on the 19th May to talk about our recent survey work on Ports and Harbours along the north east Wales coast. The survey, which was part of a pan-Wales project funded by Cadw, looked at the range of coastal landscapes from the Dee estuary to Rhos-on-Sea. Although much of north east Wales coastal strip has changed radically in the modern era, it still retains a surprisingly wide variety of and historical and archaeological remains ranging from submerged early prehistoric forests to modern industrial complexes and, of course, any number of ports and harbours including the remnants of this splendid timber jetty (complete with wreck) near Shotton Steelworks.

Following closely on Nigel's heels, some 20 society members were delighted to welcome CPAT's Jeff Spencer to their meeting on the 16th June. Jeff fascinated them with the history of the Valley Works chemical weapons factory at Rhydymwyn, a sometimes contraversial subject including Britain's wartime manufacture and stockpiling of mustard gas and, surprisingly to many, the country's early work on the atomic bomb - which few people expect to have had its genesis in Flintshire! Jeff also outlined current efforts to manage the remains of this important historical resource under a newly produced heritage management plan. The general opinion of the audience was that they ‘never knew such things were going on so close by’, hopefully the presentation helped lift the veil of secrecy and suspicion that has previously shrouded the site! To find out more about Rhydymwyn's contribution to Wales' secret history follow this link.

Heather and Hillforts at Penycloddiau

During May CPAT undertook a small-scale excavation to investigate the cairn on the highest point of Penycloddiau hillfort in the Clwydians. It has been suggested that the cairn may be a small Bronze Age burial monument and the excavation was carried out to determine its likely date and function. The work was undertaken as part of the Denbighshire County Council Heather and Hillforts project.

The excavation has proved that the cairn is indeed artificial, although unfortunately no dateable artefacts were recovered. However, beneath the modern walkers' cairn a number of stones were found which had been inscribed with dates between 1898 and 1927. The centre of the cairn had been disturbed by a pit which had been cut through the cairn material, and may have been associated with an Ordnance Survey triangulation station which was formerly positioned on the cairn.

Flash, Bang, Wallop What a Picture!

Portable Antiquities Scheme volunteer and expert photographer Rod Trevaskus gave an enthusiastically welcomed presentation on the photography of archaeological artefacts to 30 members of the Wrexham Heritage Society at their 8th May meeting. Society members take time to research the history of the discoveries made with the aid of their metal detectors and record them with CPAT for the much-respected Portable Antiquities Scheme. Wanting to take more responsibility for recording their finds society Chairman Roy Griffiths and President Charles Cater invited Rod to explain how to take a good picture and to share hints and tips about photographing archaeological artefacts.

At the same meeting it was announced that Wrexham Heritage Society had been awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to enable them to buy audio-visual equipment with which to record finds made by club members and to share the results of their research with the public.

Wrexham Area Civic Society talk

A group of eighteen attended the 20th March meeting of the Wrexham Area Civic Society at Ty AVOW, Wrexham to see an illustrated presentation entitled ‘Rhydymwyn Valley: history and industrial archaeology’. Where the valley of the River Alyn passes through the village of Rhydymwyn in Flintshire there was formerly much lead mining and an iron foundry making components for mining machinery. Then in 1939 came construction of a chemical weapons factory to produce mustard ‘gas’ in preparation for the coming war. The evening event presented much hitherto unknown information about the valley and the formerly controversial site of the chemical weapons factory that is now opening its doors to the community and telling its fascinating story to the world! To find out more about the Rhydymwyn site follow this link

Historic Forests in Leeds

Some 40 people saw Bob Silvester present a lecture on medieval forests - their location, extent and physical remains - in the Welsh Marches from Cheshire and Flintshire in the north to Monmouthshire in the south. The occasion was the session on forests at the prestigeous Leeds International Medieval Congress on 8 July.

130 at Third Age lecture

One hundred and thirty members of the History and Archaeology section of the Shrewsbury branch of The University of the Third Age turned out to hear David Vaughan talk about CPAT it's structure and the work it undertakes. Covering both its Heritage Management and Field Services sections, the talk included images and data from its flagship excavations, including those at Dyffryn Lane and Sarn y Bryn Caled. This fired the imagination of the audience, who asked some very pertinent and at times provocative questions. The day concluded with a synopsis of the current state of archaeology and how it increasingly operates alongside economic development and planning control, and the battery of scientifically-advanced techniques employed in this modern, commercial environment. The talk was being used by U3A to develop its future history and archaeology syllabus.

Sending out a message . . . .

A short talk to an enthusiastic amateur radio club took place at Belan School/Church, Llwynderw near Welshpool on St Valentines Day (that's the 14th February for the less romantically inclined). Twenty-one members of the Powys Amateur Radio Club watched a presentation about archaeological artefacts from mid- and northeast Wales and were introduced to the aims and objectives of the Portable Antiquities Scheme. The event was a valuable opportunity for CPAT staff to meet people starting out in the hobby of metal detecting, or thinking about starting, and allowed an exchange of information and advice about finds identification, recording, and responsible detecting.

The upland archaeology of Mynydd Hiraethog at the Denbighshire Historical Society

On the 9th February some 30 members of the Denbighshire Historical Society heard Bob Silvester give an illustrated lecture on the archaeology and landscape of Mynydd Hiraethog. The well received talk drew on the results of survey work conducted by CPAT for the Royal Commission on the Historic and Ancient Monument's in Wales Uplands Initiative and subsequent research for a volume to be published by the Commission on that area.

Powis Castle's guides start the year with a day out

To start the year off in style, 10 eager room guides from the National Trust property Powis Castle, one of Welshpool's major tourist attractions, decided to spend one of their annual outings having a guided tour themselves - they elected to take a walk around historic Welshpool with Chris Martin of CPAT to guide them. Braving the cold, it was January 4th after all, Chris led them through the highways and byways pointing out some of the town's more interesting buildings and discussing the not so visible, but very varied, archaeological remains that have to come to light over the years.

The group were fascinated by the fine but often ignored 18th and 19th century street frontages, many of which disguise earlier medieval buildings. They heard about Welshpool's possible Roman origins, about the Norman motte and bailey castle and its associated town, how at the end of the 13th century Edward I created a new borough next to the Norman town in order to 'control' the locals, and how that then went on, financed by the medieval and later woollen industries, to form the nucleus of the modern settlement.

The party, which comprised only 'Friday' guides, thoroughly enjoyed their walk and talk and promised that they would recommend it to their colleagues - the room guides for Saturday to Thursday - as a way of getting to know Welshpool a little better.

To find out more about the history of Welshpool follow this link to our local community pages.

Montgomeryshire Age Concern

During October and November 2007 Jeff Spencer contributed to the Age Concern Montgomeryshire Healthy Living Project with a talk on archaeological artefacts to senior citizens at several rural locations in Montgomeryshire. In Llandrinio, Llangynog, Middletown, Llandinam and Pontrobert groups ranging in number from 15 to 30 were entertained with images and information about the broad range of archaeological artefacts (and the occasional natural curiosity) reported to the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust in recent years by hawk-eyed members of the public. Follow this link to find out more about the work of Age Concern in Montgomeryshire.

Friends of Wrexham Museum

You can find out more about the CPAT Historic Churches Survey by following this link.

Audience fired up by historic lecture!

On the 16th November an enthusiastic, 50 strong, audience greeted a member of CPAT staff to the monthly meeting of the Dyfi University of the Third Age held in Machynlleth Bowling Club. Jeff Spencer gave an illustrated talk about the history and archaeology of the area starting with the slender traces of prehistoric human activity and proceeding chronologically through the history of the town right up to the period of the Cold War with discussion of a Royal Observer Corps monitoring post which was only abandoned with the disbandment of the organisation in 1991. A very positive and comprehensive report of the talk appeared shortly afterwards in the County Times newspaper under the headline Audience ‘fired up’ by historic lecture!

You can find out more about the Dyfi group of the University of the Third Age by following this link.

Excavations at Llanelwedd

The cairn was one of a number of sites recorded on Llanelwedd Rocks, overlooking the Wye Valley in Radnorshire. The site appears to have been one partially excavated in 1906, but which had not been examined since. The excavation has confirmed that the stone cairn had originally been built around and over a central burial cist, constructed from locally quarried stone slabs, but has also revealed that it had been surounded by a kerb of upright stones. These findings and many other details recovered by the work can be read by following the link below.

Work came to an end on the 9th November and for every working day of those five weeks dig director, Bill Britnell (pictured here with the rest of the dig team in front of the excavated cairn), has complied a dig diary for the CPAT website. To review the story of the excavation as it unfolded day by day follow this link to that now completed diary.

Offa's Dyke dig sparks school interest

Most archaeological evaluations pass by without arousing a great deal of public interest, but recent work in advance of an extension to Llandysilio School at Four Crosses prompted an organised visit by pupils. The dig was in an area where the course of the Early Medieval earthwork bank and ditch Offa's Dyke runs underneath the front of the Victorian school buildings, and the evaluation was designed to find out if any remains of the Dyke would be effected the proposed building works. In the aerial photograph you can see here, taken by CPAT in 1984, the course of the earthwork can clearly be seen as a yellow stripe running to the right of the road towards the school (at the top of the photo). This cropmark is caused when the grass in the field parches because the topsoil is shallower where it lies over the remains of the bank.

Unfortunately no certain evidence of Off'a Dyke was found by the evaluation, but discussions with the teaching staff led to the opportunity to talk to two groups, numbering about 40 pupils in total, regarding both the Dyke and the archaeology of the immediate locality.

For further information about Offa's Dyke and the Offa's Dyke Initiative Project follow this link.

Iolo speaks out!

Welsh wildlife expert, Iolo Williams, took time out of his hectic filming and recording schedules to come to the Powysland Museum in Welshpool recently. He was there to record voiceovers, in Welsh and English, for the virtual reality model of the Iron Age and Roman landscape around Caersws that forms a centrepiece of the Museum's most recent exhibition - The Romans in Mid-Wales.

The model is the result of a collaboration between CPAT and computer expert Steve Smith and contains detailed reconstructions of Caersws' two Roman forts, Cefn Carnedd Iron Age hillfort, and a number of smaller farmsteads and enclosures in this distinctive part of the Severn Valley. CPAT's extensive knowledge of the area's archaeology and history and Steve's wizardry in web based computer modelling combined quickly to produce images, words and animations, but we were lacking a voice. We tried recording each other for the early versions but it wasn't really working so we went looking for an expert - hence our call to Iolo. He was delighted to help.

The finished animated tour of the model with Iolo's excellent bilingual commentary can be seen running at the Powysland Museum as part of the exhibition until the end of November 2007. The animation can also be seen, and the full model explored interactively, as part of this web site by following this link.

You can find out more about the Romans in Mid-Wales exhibition at the Powysland Museum by following this link.

Meifod Local History Society

Twenty members of the Meifod Local History Society were fascinated to hear an illustrated talk on the 16th October about reading the landscape from old maps. The talk, by CPAT's Bob Silvester, looked the availability, use, and pit falls of using information on historic maps for studying the past.

Wrexham Heritage Society

Wrexham Heritage Society is blazing a trail for responsible metal detecting! Over recent years CPAT has built up a good relationship with the Society, it’s committee being keen that all discoveries made by members be reported to archaeologists and properly recorded. Through liaison between Jeff Spencer of CPAT, Peter Reavill of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, Wrexham Heritage Society President Charles Cater and other senior society members a system to record the artefacts unearthed during metal detecting forays has been put in place.

With funding from the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) Jeff is able to attend club meetings once a quarter to record details of the latest discoveries and to help identify the more troublesome artefacts! Attendance is always good with about 30 members at the October meeting. Back at the CPAT offices information and photographs of the finds are uploaded to the PAS online database.

Over the last couple of months invaluable assistance has come from Mr Rod Trevaskus, a volunteer member of staff who is taking high quality photographs of the finds and helping with the time-consuming task of entering details onto the PAS online database. We are very grateful to Rod for his time and enthusiasm.

CPAT and BBC Radio Cymru at Bryn Euryn

Situated in a commanding position above Rhos-on-Sea, Bryn Euryn is an Iron Age hillfort that has also been claimed to be the site of a Dark Age stronghold, possibly the citadel of Cynlas, first cousin of Maelgwn Gwynedd and King in Rhos in the first half of the 6th century. On lower land to the northeast and also within the nature reserve is Llys Euryn, a ruined medieval manor house on a site also associated with Maelgwn Gwynedd.

Trial excavations on Bryn Euryn by the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust during September 1997 revealed the base of a massive, well-built defensive stone wall, thought originally to have stood at least 3m high. Frustratingly, no occupation layers or dating evidence were found and the interior had also been damaged by Second World War RAF installations.

It is clear that further archaeological work is needed on Bryn Euryn to investigate the Dark Age association, but it is without doubt a wonderful location with spectacular views, once the steep climb and stiff breeze have been negotiated!

Meifod Local History Group

After the lecture the Secretary of the group was heard to remark "Good, good, long may they continue to fund you!", a most welcome comment that he followed up a few days later with a kind letter of thanks which read

"I am writing to thank you for your most enjoyable talk last week.... Our members will now have some idea of the sort of artefacts that can be found in this locality, and what to do should they be fortunate enough to discover anything!"

Ruralia Conference 2007