lwhill fort

Aberhonddu mold river honddu brycheniog hawarden flint ceredigion talgarth lwhill fort abergaveny gold

the campaign against the Durotriges and Dumnonii tribes. Although it was recorded as suffering a defeat at the hands of the Silures in 52, the II Augusta proved to be one of the best legions, even after its disgrace during the uprising of queen Boudica, when its praefectus castrorum, who was then its acting commander (its legatus and tribunes probably being absent with the governor Suetonius Paulinus), contravened Suetonius’ orders to join him and so later committed suicide.

After the defeat of Boudica, the legion was dispersed over several bases; from 66 to around 74 it was stationed at Glevum (modern Gloucester), and then moved to Isca Augusta (modern Caerleon), building a stone fortress that the soldiers occupied until the end of the 3rd century.

The legion also had connections with the camp at Alchester in Oxfordshire; stamped tiles record it in the

2nd century at Abonae (Sea Mills, Bristol) on the tidal shore of the Avon (PrincetonEncyclopedia).

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Llanmelin Wood Hillfort

Llanmelin Wood Hill Fort

Llanmelin is an Iron Age hillfort located just over a mile (2km) north-west of Caerwent Roman Town, between Newport and Chepstow. Traditionally, Llanmelin was thought to be the tribal centre of the Silures before thehttps://youtu.be/slz07t5mK0U Romans arrived, but there is no strong evidence to support this idea.

In general, hillforts began to appear about 1000BC or 3,000 years ago. In the Welsh borderland, however, the main phase of hillfort construction seems to have been around 400BC to 500BC. Small enclosures, with a single bank — known as a rampart — and ditch, predominated. Further ramparts and more elaborate entrances were often added later and hillforts could remain in use until 2,000 years ago.

We do not know whether this elaboration reflects a real threat or a form of display, but the diversity of shapes and characteristics suggest a range of functions.

Set high above the coastal plain, Llanmelin follows this pattern of development. It began life with a single bank and ditch. More banks were added and a hundred years later the entrance was remodelled and strengthened.

From excavation evidence, we know that people lived in circular houses here made of timber and mud. They kept and ate cows, sheep and pigs, used pottery, smelted copper and carved antlers from red deer.

Today, only earthworks survive at Llanmelin. They are made up of three distinct elements: the main camp, the annexe, which is a series of rectangular enclosures tacked onto the main camp, and the outpost, located 275 yards (250m) away in woodland close to the road.

Llanmelin is also home to many different animals and flowers.

Llanmelin Wood Hillfort — Excavations

This site is included in one of our guidebooks. VisNPRN

301559

Map Reference

ST49SE

Grid Reference

ST46129254

Unitary (Local) Authority

Monmouthshire

Old County

Monmouthshire

Community

Shirenewton

Type of Site

HILLFORT

Broad Class

Defence

Period

Iron Age

Site Description

Llanmelin Wood hillfort is a small but elaborate Iron Age hillfort defended by two, and in some places three, banks. The hillfort has been suggested as the tribal capital of the Silures tribe, as it overlooks the Roman town of Caerwent (Venta Silurum - 'market town of the Silures'), but it is not the largest hillfort in the region and there remains no conclusive proof of this supposed role. The main hillfort is oval and measures 200m NE-SW by 130m SE-NW, with a main gateway on the southeast side. Alongside and to the east of the hillfort is a complex annex comprising two rectangular compartments bounded by a high earthwork along the north, and terminating in a series of linear banks alongside a south-east gateway. The annex measures some 150m east-west by 60m. Together the hillfort and annex enclosure around 3 hectares.

In the early 1930s Llanmelin hillfort was the focus of intense activity. An original survey by Sir Mortimer Wheeler (1923) was improved by V. E. Nash-Williams who conducted three seasons of excavation between 1930-32. At the time the hillfort was thickly wooded with virtually no clear sight lines, but this did not hamper the excavation of many narrow excavation trenches and running sections. Howells and Pollard in the Gwent County History (2004, 148-151) summarise the development as beginning with an early phase hillfort flanked by extra mural occupation to the east. The was superceded in the 2nd century BC by a multivallate expansion of the original hillfort. In the third phase, dated first century BC/AD, the main gateway was remodelled and the complex annex was constructed. During the new Royal Commission survey in 2015, good indications of an early phase enclosure within the main hillfort have been recorded for the first time.

Finds included bead-rimmed jars with limestone fabric and Glastonbury style vessels. Perhaps the most interesting discovery from the annex were two human burials, one in the external ditch on the south-west side and one external to the northeast of the annex earthworks. Reappraisal of the site in the Gwent County History suggested Llanmelin may be a late Iron Age oppidum with high status funerary enclosures developed alongside. Later occupation on the hillfort included two substantial medieval longhouses sited within the annex earthworks.

New community excavations undertaken by Cadw with Archaeology Wales between 29th October and 16th November 2012 investigated parts of the hillfort interior and defences and produced Roman finds into the second century AD. A new survey by the Royal Commission was undertaken in spring 2015.

There is a lesser enclosure, the 'outpost', sited about 235m to the north-east (NPRN 307960).

Source: Nash Williams 1933 (AC 88), 237-346.

Griffiths, R.A. (ed.), The Gwent County History, Volume 1, Gwent in Prehistory and Early History. University of Wales Press: Cardiff.

T. Driver & L. Barker, 2015it our online shop to find out more