The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust News Pages

NEW BOOK AVAILABLE . . . . .

Be one of the first to own this fascinating new book entitled Montgomeryshire Past & Present from the Air, containing over 200 full colour images. It has been produced by the Powysland Club and the Clwyd Powys Archaelogical Trust at a price of just £12.95. To find out how to order your copy just follow this link.

CPAT visits Shrewsbury High Prep School

On the 18th January the girls in Year 4 at Shrewsbury High Prep School were treated to a presentation about archaeology from Jenny Britnell of CPAT. Jenny showed her audience aerial photographs of sites, images of artefacts and explained what archaeologists do. She also distributed newsletters and leaflets about the Young Archaeologists’ Club. Only a day or two later Jenny received a whole bundle of thank–you letters from the children, who from the quotes below seem to have enjoyed her visit very much!

“My favourite bit was when you showed us the [pictures of] skeletons, it was a bit freaky but that would NEVER stop me from becoming an archaeologist”.

“I liked it when you showed us the photograph of the man who was doing the excavation in winter and had a funny looking shelter”.

Thank you Merle!

After 29 years of sterling service, CPAT Administrator Merle Godsell left the Trust at the end of December 2011. To mark the occasion and to show everyone’s gratitude a super-chocolatey chocolate cake decorated with chocolate stars… and chocolate, was created by our colleague Sophie Watson. This was enjoyed by all at an informal gathering at the CPAT office where Merle was also surprised with presents including a watercolour of Aberdovey beach, one of her favourite places. She was also toasted at the CPAT Christmas party held at the Golden Cross Hotel in Shrewsbury shortly afterwards. Merle says she is looking forward to devoting more time to her grandson Frank and dog Sadie, we hope she won’t forget us and will drop in for a cuppa every now and again.

Bradford University Student completes successful placement at CPAT

Emma Turner from Bradford University has left CPAT after 6 months to begin the next challenge in her placement year, studying bones from archaeological excavations in York at the York Archaeological Trust. Unfortunately for Emma due to the soil conditions we seldom find bones during excavations in our region of Wales, so there were none for her to work with at CPAT. However, between May and December 2011, as well as completing other smaller tasks, she worked on adding several thousand records of finds from the Portable Antiquities Scheme and Iron Age and Roman Coins from Wales databases to the Historic Environment Record; a valuable task which may help us identify and discover more about archaeological sites in the region, including several previously unknown sites. We wish Emma all the best for the future and look forward to welcoming her successor from Bradford later in the year.

The Portable Antiquities Scheme Annual Report 2009 & 2010

The map to the left shows the distribution of Roman coins recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme between 1997 and 2010. It appears in the Portable Antiquities Scheme Annual Report 2009 & 2010 recently published by the British Museum. The map shows the large number of recent discoveries of coins in Wales and demonstrates the value of working with metal detector users and others to record items discovered by members of the public.

For more information about the Portable Antiquities Scheme visit www.finds.org.uk.

Image from The Portable Antiquities Scheme Annual Report 2009 & 2010, © The British Museum 2011

Heritage in Wales - Winter 2011

The following article featuring sites in the CPAT region appears in the Winter 2011 edition of Cadw's Heritage in Wales magazine. For more information about Cadw visit www.cadw.wales.gov.uk.

The Pen-y-gaer Roman fort and vicus

Jan Bailey, of the Llangynidr Local History Society, and Richard Hankinson. of the Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust, gave a fascinating talk, on the 24th of November, to the Brecon University of the Third Age about excavations carried out by CPAT and the Society on the vicus at the Pen-y-gaer Roman fort, near Tretower during May 2011. The talk was a co-operative venture, as was the excavation, with Richard explaining the background to work on the site and some of its history, as well as the methods of excavation used and the structures and features revealed. Jan described the means by which funding was obtained and discussed a few early ideas regarding the finds from the excavation. The audience of about 40 people displayed an informed interest in the subject and contributed to an interesting question and answer session.

For further information about the Pen-y-Gaer excavations see the most recent copy of CPAT's newsletter.

The Making of the Maelor Saesneg Landscape . . . talk to the Holt Local History Society, 24 November 2011

Bill Britnell gave an illustrated talk to an audience of about 30 members of the Holt Local History Society in the Holt Community Centre on the subject 'The Making of the Maelor Saesneg Landscape'. Maelor Saesneg ('English Maelor') is one of the areas represented in the Welsh Historic Landscapes Register, lying to the east of the river Dee and now forming part of Wrexham County Borough Council. Because of its position in the Welsh borderland the area changed hands many times during the early medieval and medieval periods, belonging successively to the British kingdom of Powys in the 5th and 6th centuries, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia in the 7th to early 11th century, the Norman marcher lordship of Chester in the 11th century, the kingdom of Powys Fadog in the late 11th to 13th century, the English Crown in the later 13th century, and finally part of the realm of England and Wales with the Acts of Union passed in the 1530s and 1540s during the reign of Henry VIII. The talk looked at how history and the nature of land use and ownership can be read from the landscape, especially from field patterns, focusing in particular on the distinctive patterns of medieval strip fields, ridge and furrow cultivation and moated sites which are a notable feature of this historic landscape area. The conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1282-83 probably provides a historical context for widespread landscape change and the introduction of ridge and furrow and moated sites. Immediately following the conquest the lordship of Maelor Saesneg was granted to Queen Eleanor and the new planted town of Overton was created. Many of the landholdings of the supporters of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd were confiscated and granted to incoming English families loyal to the English Crown.

The Montgomery Hoard . . . talk to the Kerry Local History Group, 23 November 2011

A joint presentation about the Montgomery Hoard (see earlier news stories below) by Jeff Spencer of CPAT and finder Adrian Simmons (pictured right) went down very well at the AGM of the Kerry Local History Group on the evening of the 23rd November, the audience being swelled by several members of the nearby Sarn Local History Society. Jeff began the presentation by providing the background to the discovery and an account of the archaeological excavation carried out by CPAT to recover the hoard and learn about the location in which it had originally been concealed. Adrian then contributed with detailed information about the coins themselves and the emperors depicted on them. The presentation was rounded off with a discussion of the possible reasons for the burial of the pot full of coins and the likely appearance of the locality in the mid-late Roman period. The hoard resides temporarily at Amgueddfa Cymru/National Museum Wales in Cardiff awaiting a Coroner’s inquest to determine whether they qualify as Treasure. More information will be posted on the CPAT website as it becomes available.

The Archaeology of Llanelwedd Rocks . . . talk to the Radnorshire Society, 12 November 2011

Bill Britnell gave an illustrated talk to an audience of about 50 members of the Radnorshire Society in the Metropole Hotel on the subject 'Archaeology of Llanelwedd Rocks', following their AGM. The talk looked at what had been learnt from a series of archaeolgocial excavations by the Reverend D. Edmondes Owen in the first decade of the 20th century, by Jack Spurgeon of the Royal Commission in the mid 1960 to early 1970s, and more by CPAT, between 2007-11, in advance of extensions to Llanelwedd Quarry. Excavated sites include a possibly Neolithic hut site, dating to perhaps 3000 BC, two Bronze Age cairns, dating to the period between about 2100-1700 BC, a farm complex including a longhouse and corn-drying kiln and a rabbit warren, all dating to the period between about AD 1650-1800. As well as describing these archaeological excavations, the talk also drew upon other evidence of land use history provided by the paintings of Thomas Jones of Pencerrig and various 17th- and 18th-century wills and probate records. The talk ended with a brief survey of other unexcavated sites on Carneddau, including other Bronze Age cairns, a possible Bronze Age standing stone, Iron Age hillforts possibly dating to the period 500 BC to AD 50, medieval house sites probably representing upland summer houses or hafotty, and a post-medieval cockpit.

Coin numbers rise to over 4800

The number of coins in the recently discovered Roman hoard found near Montgomery in July has now risen to 4828 - over a thousand more than had originally been estimated! The coins have been 'excavated' from the pot in which they were found and carefully cleaned and a report on them is now being prepared by the National Museum of Wales.

Follow this link to the original story and see more about it in our most recent CPAT Newsletter.

Young volunteer enhances the record for Betws-yn-rhôs

Local student Emma Bristow recently began visiting CPAT on Friday afternoons and is in the process of making new HER records based on work done by Mr Goronwy Davies of Abergele of a study of 19th Century buildings.

Volunteer scans collection of photographs from the 1960s

Alice Bufton (who originally did her Year 12 work experience at CPAT in 2009) returned to CPAT for a short period over the summer and helped in scanning photographs from the Miss E Willson Collection of Excavations in North East Wales in the 1960s. These included a fascinating insight into excavations at Moel Hiraddug hillfort in Denbighshire. CPAT wishes to thank Mr & Mrs Johnson who kindly loaned us the photographs after finding them in a north Wales junk shop!

Montgomeryshire Past and Present from the Air is launched . . . . .

Saturday the 29th of October saw the official launch of an exciting new book looking at Montgomeryshire Past and Present from the the Air. The book, which contains over 200 colour images of Montgomeryshire from the collections of the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust and the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales, has been written by Chris Musson, formely of the Commission and CPAT, and is published by the Powysland Club and CPAT, in collaboration with the Commission. The launch, which formed part of the Club's October lecture at the Tabernacle in Machynlleth, was attended by the author, who is pictured here (on the left) with Mrs Daphne Woodhouse, of the Powyland Club, and Mr Peter Wakelin the secretary of the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales.

To find out more about this book and to order your copy follow this link.

Council for British Archaeology Cymru/Wales AGM, 22nd October 2011

After an invitation from Mr Mike Scott-Archer, education officer for CBA Cymru/Wales, a display was prepared to entertain the masses between business and talks at the recent AGM held at the Gateway Centre, Shrewsbury. The recently discovered Roman coin hoard from Montgomery was felt to be a suitable topic and the latest images of its discovery and recovery were presented. Excitingly these included shots of 3rd century coins cleaned by National Museum Wales/Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Cymru staff in their laboratory (see news story above for more information).

Family and Local History Day, Newtown, 15th October 2011

Abi McCullough of CPAT recently attended a weekend event in Newtown organised by the National Library of Wales. Aimed at those interested in the history of the town and surrounding area, and the lives of family members, the event at the Monty Club supported by a range of heritage organisations was well attended. Abi was present to hand out leaflets about the archaeological remains in the area and give advice to people undertaking research. It is hoped to run similar events in the future so keep your eyes peeled for details.

CPAT at the National Eisteddfod, Wrexham, August 2011

CPAT were present at this year’s National Eisteddfod flying the flag for the Welsh Archaeological Trusts. A mysterious Celtic figure seen wandering around the stand – drawing a mixed response from bemused children and intrigued adults alike – resolved itself into Emma Turner, a CPAT placement student from Bradford University, who had bravely donned costume and war paint to try and draw more of a crowd (see photo left); while also trying to improve her Welsh. Jeff Spencer and Wendy Owen from the Trust were on hand to demonstrate Archwilio and share their knowledge with the public.

The main focus of the stand was a bilingual display on the excavation of prehistoric remains at Borras Quarry, a site near to Wrexham but unfortunately closed to visitors. The aim was to demonstrate to people some of the ongoing work of CPAT while focussing on sites within or near the Wrexham area. With this in mind there was also a photographic display of several historic sites; an Iron Age farmstead, Offa’s Dyke and a Roman fort to name but a few.

There was also a daily activity for children in the form of medieval tile making. This proved a huge success with some children making two tiles and even some adults pitching in. Overall the week proved to be a huge success, with Wednesday proving to be the busiest day, so much so that there was little free space at the stand on occasion! Leaflets went flying out the door and by the end of the week Wendy and Emma were pleased at how few boxes there were to bring home!

Wendy Owen (right) discusses an archaeological site with visitors to the CPAT stand.

An evening in Llangernyw

During the Festival of British Archaeology CPAT gave a public presentation about the work of the Trust and some of it's recent larger projects on behalf of the Sir Henry Jones Museum in Llangernyw, Conwy.

The opportunity was also taken to make use of CPAT's handling collection of archaeological artefacts to enable the audience to have the experience of holding real ancient artefacts.

CPAT's Romans in Mid-Wales exhibition boards were also loaned to Conwy Museums Education Service as part of their summer of exhibitions about the legacy of the Romans in Conwy.

A pleasant walk in the Elan Valley

A group of 25 enthusiastic walkers joined CPAT's Nigel Jones on Saturday 13 August for another History Walk, organised by the Elan Valley Trust. The afternoon walk started from the carpark at Nant y Ffin and followed the path through the woods onto the moorland at Rhos y Gelynnen. This area of the Elan Estate has two of the more impressive prehistoric sites in the area, and the first to be visited was a stone row, consisting of five stones and a recumbent large slab. Just beyond is a small Bronze Age burial cairn. The route then led towards two prominent radio masts at Cefn Llanerchi which are close to a pair off large standing stones, each over 2m in length. Although these would have been impressive in their day, sadly both have now fallen. The return route was a pleasance stroll through the forestry and then along a forest track with good view of Garreg-ddu Reservoir.

Medieval Mayhem at CPAT!

On 23rd July some 50 people came to CPAT's new offices on Broad Street for our annual Festival of British Archaeology event. This is the first year we have been able to host the event ourselves, as we at last have ground-floor offices with enough space to set out the crafts and activities.

Visitors could try their hands at making medieval tiles, brooches and heraldic shields, and reconstructing a large broken pot. We had very positive feedback from the visitors, and plan to stay at home next year as well.

The Festival of British Archaeology is the annual ‘extravaganza of heritage events’ coordinated by the Council for British Archaeology and is aimed at families across the UK. During the two-week Festival, CPAT were also involved with a small excavation at Hen Caerwys medieval settlement in Flintshire (see below).

Click here to see a full report of this year's event, and more of our involvement with the Festival over the years.

Work Experience at CPAT, 2011

Four local students joined us at CPAT for work experience placements at the start of July. They had the chance to be involved in a range of archaeological activites and all showed they had the skills necessary to become archaeologists in the future.

Click here to see a full report of this year's placement.

3000 roman coins discovered near Montgomery

A week ago CPAT were contacted by metal detectorist Adrian Simmons with the exciting news that he had uncovered some roman coins in a field near Montgomery - in fact he'd discovered over 900 coins and had unearthed the top of a pot containing over 2000 more!. He left the pot in the ground and hot-footed it to CPAT . . . . .

Within a couple of days CPAT's Sophie Watson (pictured left with one of the coins) and a lucky band of local students who were working with us on a week long work experience placement, were excavating the site and between them recovered the almost intact pot and its coins. The coins all seem to be copper alloy and appear to be mostly late 3rd century. This was a time of great civil unrest and financial uncertainty in Roman Britain and the coins may have been hidden for safekeeping but never recovered by their original owner.

The find has been reported to the Powys Coroner and may in due course be declared as Treasure. The coins have now been moved to the National Museum of Wales for a full report to be prepared.

Watch this space for further developments

Being 'Local Tourists' in Welshpool

CPAT were once again delighted to contribute to Welshpool Town Council’s annual ‘Be A Local Tourist’ week. Numerous events were staged around the town including guided walks and the opportunity to view buildings and gardens not usually open to the public.

Staff from CPAT were present with an information stand at the local societies' and community groups' fayre at the Town Hall on 2nd July, and led a guided walk around some of the town's historic buildings on the 8th. To round things off Chris Martin, Regional Archaeologist joined other experts at an ‘Ask the Panel’ event on Saturday 9th.

Hen Caerwys dig starts!

On the 14th July a short community excavation started at Hen Caerwys in Flintshire. The dig is being run by CPAT and Cadw and involves local volunteers.

To find out what these people are doing standing around in a wood follow this link to our dig diary.

University of Bradford student joins CPAT for 6 months

I’m currently studying BSc Bio-Archaeology at the University of Bradford, which includes going on placements in my third year, (I'm the person on the right of the picture).

For one of my placements I’m spending six months with CPAT and started in June 2011 and will be with them until Christmas. My work with the company is varied and mixed. Mostly I’ve been working with the HER making new records about artefacts using information from the Portable Antiquities Scheme database. I have also helped out with the excavations at Hen Caerwys and also working on 18th Century estate maps and either making new records for features such as mills or enhancing existing records.

I’ve also set CPAT up on Facebook where updates on events and news as well as pictures are uploaded, so come and finds us: ‘Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust CPAT’.

Llangammarch Wells Local History Society

The Llangammarch Wells Local History Society invited CPAT to give the talk at their monthly meeting at Alexandra Hall in the town on 15th June. The talk comprised an illustrated presentation in three sections; an introduction to CPAT, details of some of our recent projects and information on local sites and discoveries. Aerial photos of the town gave a different perspective on things and generated discussion amongst the audience.

A member of the society was also kind enough to bring along some photos of her family and old postcards of the town and church before it’s most recent rebuild undertaken in the 1920s. She is pictured to the right with her son who is also a member of the society.

A Glimmer in the Earth

A Glimmer in the Earth is the title of an exhibition at CARAD (Community Arts Rhayader And District) running between the 4th June and 4th September 2011. The exhibition uses two historic discoveries in the area, one of 4 Bronze Age torcs and one of 3 items of Roman jewellery (see photos to left and below), to introduce the character of the Rhayader district in the distant past.

In March CPAT received an invitation from the film group at CARAD to contribute to a short film about the archaeology of the district to set the scene for the area at the time the items were buried, hidden or lost. A short interview at CARAD was followed by filming on location at Nant Gwynllyn Bronze Age standing stone and the Roman marching camp at Esgair Perfedd. Thanks to fine (if rather chilly) weather and a steady supply of coffee and Welsh cakes the day was a great success!

Subsequently Jeff Spencer was invited to attend the preview of the finished film and the grand opening of the exhibition in Rhayader; the evening event was very popular with over 150 people in attendance. Glimmer in the Earth is a triumph; rewarding all the hard work of the dedicated staff at CARAD, visit it (as soon and as often as you can) before September when the torcs will return to their permanent home at the National Museum in Cardiff and the jewellery to the British Museum.

We look forward to working with the staff and volunteers at CARAD again in the future.

MP Unveils Information Boards at Caersws

A small crowd was present just outside what was once the south gate of Caersws Roman fort (an area now known as ‘by the St John Ambulance station’!) to witness the unveiling and official launch of the first fruits of Twristiaeth Caersws Tourism (TCT), a community group determined to raise the profile and popularity of their mid-Wales village. After an introduction from TCT Chairman Glyn Cooke and a short speech MP for Montgomeryshire Glyn Davies did the honours by removing a ceremonial flag from the information board in the centre of the village. Also in attendance was new Welsh Assembly Member for Montgomeryshire Russell George.

The series of 5 large and colourful information boards sited around the village give readers a huge amount of detail about the archaeology and history of Caersws, Llanwnog and the surrounding area; as well as the local ecology and pastimes of the villagers.

CPAT were delighted to be able to contribute to the initiative. Jeff Spencer joined the group’s committee, attended meetings and provided information and advice about the archaeology of the village. Jenny Britnell, who undertook extensive excavations at Caersws during the 1980s, was on hand with Jeff at the positioning of the 5 boards to ensure no Roman deposits were disturbed.

It is hoped to continue the partnership between Twristiaeth Caersws Tourism and CPAT as the group embarks on new ventures to increase the number of visitors to their village.

Pontrobert WI

The evening of 19th May saw CPAT attending the Pontrobert WI weekly meeting as guest speaker. The topic was an introduction to the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust but the informal presentation included discussion of the way archaeology is organised and carried out in Wales and the various bodies involved. The small audience was interested to hear of the larger, high profile projects undertaken by CPAT in recent years and posed several questions about local historic sites.

Wrexham Rotary Club

On the 3rd of May CPAT were invited to attend the weekly meeting of the Wrexham Branch of The Rotary Club and to give the after-dinner talk. The topic chosen was ‘archaeological artefacts from the Wrexham area’. Finds of all periods, from Neolithic flint tools to a 16th century child’s toy were illustrated and explained to the audience.

Llanfair Caereinion Local History Society

An illustrated talk about the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust and some of the larger projects undertaken in recent years was given at the Institute in Llanfair Caereinion just before Easter. There was particular interest in the work carried out ahead of construction of the Tesco superstore in Welshpool where a hoard of Roman grave goods had been discovered in the 1950s.

Dalrhiw walk

A small but select group of local enthusiasts joined CPAT’s Nigel Jones on Saturday 16 April for a history walk to Dalrhiw lead mine, organised by the Elan Valley Trust. The mine is one of several within the Elan Estate and was in operation between 1850 and 1881. Both Dalrhiw and Nant y Car South, which lies on the opposite bank of the stream, were surveyed in detail by CPAT during the 1990s and feature in ‘Mountains and Orefields’, a CBA publication on the metal mines of mid and north-east Wales.

Caersws WI

Over 40 members of several local WI groups were hosted by the Caersws branch on 12th April. CPAT were present to address the audience on the theme of the history and archaeology of the village. Information on Cefn Carnedd hillfort that stands guard over the village began proceedings, which quickly moved on to cover the wealth of Roman archaeology just under modern Caersws. The conundrum of what happened once the Romans left was debated before the presentation was rounded off with a quick discussion of the village as it now appears and some of the interesting buildings still standing. A fine supper and votes of thanks all round brought the evening to a jolly end.

Visit from Ysgol Maesydre

On a quiet Friday afternoon in late January staff at CPAT were delighted when they received a visit from staff and children from Ysgol Maesydre, Welshpool. Marshalled by teacher Mr Dewi Roberts, 9 children acting as scouts for their classmates studied several maps depicting the town as it appeared in Victorian times. A lively discussion centred on what was to be learned from maps and how Welshpool had altered since the 1880s when the maps in question were printed.

Knucklas Community Land Project

Knucklas Community Land Project invited CPAT to give a talk at the Castle Inn, Knucklas on 16th February. Jeff Spencer outlined the role of the Trust and showed slides of some of the larger field projects undertaken in the last year or two. An interesting discussion followed revolving around local archaeology and the plans of the community group who are actively researching Knucklas Castle and the surrounding land. For more information visit the Knucklas Castle Community Land Project website. Thank you for the warm reception received.

Wrexham Histories Festival

The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust were represented at the first Wrexham Histories Festival held at Glyndwr University on the 4th and 5th of February. Abi McCullough and Jeff Spencer demonstrated Archwilio and answered questions from the public. They were joined by staff and members of numerous other organisations such as Wrexham Museum, Holt Local History Society, the Peoples’ Collection Wales and historic re-enactment groups to bring the past to life for the people of north Wales. The event was lively and well attended and we hope to be involved should a second Festival be organised.

Welshpool WI

Historic Environment Record Archaeologist Jeff Spencer gave a presentation about CPAT and some of its recent local projects to Welshpool WI at its January 12th meeting at the Methodist Church Schoolroom in the High Street. The talk was received enthusiastically and there were several follow-on questions. Over coffee and cake Jeff was also delighted to be asked to judge the week’s competition, which was about old coins.

Recent work by CPAT . . . . .

Bob Silvester, CPAT's Deputy Director, wowed an audience of 42 members of the Montgomery Civic Society on December 3rd, with a fascinating talk about the recent work of the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust. The talk ranged from work at the Dyffyrn Lane henge monument (pictured), excavated in conjunction with the Universtity of Bradford to work on Cwm Mawr, and the ongoing search for the illusive source of Bronze Age axe hammers.