MONMOUTHSHIRE

(1) Shirenewton (ST 4837 9337): aerial reconnaissance identified cropmarks of a multivallate defended enclosure, and other enclosures, sited at 140 m O.D. on an east-facing spur of land. The main enclosure is an elongated rectangle with three sharp-angled corners and one rounded corner, aligned north–south, measuring 70 by 50 m. This is enclosed within a second outer enclosure with rounded corners, which also extends south to enclose an appended square annex with rounded corners, measuring 80 m across. There are traces of a third outer enclosure on the northern side of the complex. The characteristics of the enclosure suggest a Roman date, potentially a villa site. Approximately 50 m to the north are cropmarks of two more simple, univallate polygonal enclosures, the largest measuring 50 m across.Footnote ¹

NEWPORT

(1) Caerleon, (a) 25 Broadwalk (ST 33802 90958): during a watching-brief the remains of several circular or sub-circular pits were uncovered and hand excavated. They were filled by a single deposit containing domestic artefacts dated to the second century. In the northern section of the watching-brief area, the remains of roof-tile and stone floor surface were uncovered. The design of the proposed development was altered to allow for preservation in situ. The watching-brief confirms that significant Roman remains extended to the north of the house.Footnote ²

ParaInd(b) Bulmore House (ST 35996 91491): the hand excavation of a soakaway during a watching-brief uncovered a Roman occupation horizon with a stone drain dated from the late second century to the early third century. The watching-brief also confirms that significant Roman remains extended to the west of the house.Footnote ³

PEMBROKESHIRE

(1) Wiston, Llys y Fran (centred on SN 03370 23940):Footnote ⁴ geophysical survey identified the remains of a complex of large interconnecting polygonal-shaped anomalies, which, it is suggested, form the remains of a later prehistoric/Romano-British farmstead. There was, however, no evidence of an associated Roman villa. Within the complex of interconnected and somewhat overlapping rectangular enclosures, the only evidence for settlement comprised several circular ring ditches; these could represent the locations of roundhouses.Footnote ⁵

VALE OF GLAMORGAN

(1) Llanmaes, Milands Farm (SS 988 691): evidence of Roman activity principally consisted of nine ditches divided into five phases of activity; multiple working surfaces and two post-holes were recorded. The upper deposits of the ditches and post-holes had been truncated by later ploughing, leaving just the basal deposits surviving, which may also explain the patchy nature of the survival of the working surfaces. The ditches and associated features have been interpreted as forming the edge of a Romano-British farmstead or villa as yet undiscovered.Footnote ⁶

(2) Whitton (ST 0808 7135): investigations encountered part of a Roman agricultural landscape associated with the villa, along with part of the remains of the northern and southern ranges and the whole western range of the villa itself and part of the large external enclosure ditch.Footnote ⁷ Additional dating material was recovered from most of the ranges of the villa. The enclosure ditch around the villa complex, up to 3.1 m deep and 8.2 m wide, contained finds from the first to fourth century. A V-shaped enclosure ditch to the immediate north of the villa could date to the third to fourth century; however, no internal features within the enclosure were identified. A series of three sequential field-boundary ditches extended south of the villa from the enclosure ditch and became a palimpsest of three overlying field systems further south. The boundary ditches, or their backfilling, appear to date from the second to fourth century. Three metal-working areas which appear to represent locations of secondary smithing were present within the southern field systems, with slag and hammerscale present around a central area of heat-affected clay. A T-shaped grain dryer was located within one of the later field systems and a four-post structure was located towards the southern extent of the fields. Five inhumations and one disarticulated skull were located within the field systems; only one can currently be dated to the Roman period with any certainty. A collection of three roundhouses together with a penannular ditch and a four-post structure c. 900 m north-west of the villa site date to the late Iron Age/early Roman transition period. A similar group of up to six roundhouses was also present c. 450 m south of the villa, which also contained pottery dated to the late Iron Age/early Roman transition period. Four features identified as grain dryers were located c. 1.2 km south of the Whitton villa site, but only c. 800 m north-east of the Roman villa at Moulton,Footnote ⁸ which could suggest a closer association with the latter. Only one of these dryers contained dating material, which suggests a second- to fourth-century date.Footnote ⁹