The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
Historic Environment Record
 

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Cae Summerhouse Camp

Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 00246m
Trust : Glamorgan Gwent
Community : Merthyr Mawr
Unitary authority : Bridgend
NGR : SS86397798
Site Type (preferred type first) : Iron Age defended enclosure / Iron Age settlement / Roman Settlement
Status : Scheduled Monument

Summary :
Embanked and ditched rectangular enclosure representing the remains of a farmstead, with finds indicating intensive 1st-4th century occupation.

Description :
Embanked and ditched rectangular enclosure. To W a causeway, 15m in width, lay between 2 rock-cut ditch terminals. On S, remains of revetment to a funnelled gate passage. 2 large post-pits at E end of entrance passage held the main gate uprights. Romano-British corn-drier. D-shaped enclosure lay just withing the defences on the S side of the enclosure, possible stock pen. 4 and 6 post buildings to N and S of main enclosure bank. Finds indicate intensive 1st-4th century occupation.

The remains stand about 1km SE of Tythgston, on an almost level summit at 75m above OD, with a good view in all directions, but with no natural advantages for defence. Parts have been almost obliterated by cultivation. The position of the entrance is uncertain. The inner enclosure was almost square, area 0.2ha, defended by single bank and ditch.

Stony bank projects inwards from N side forming a yard or building 9m by 30m, joining E wall of the enclosure by a similar bank. The outer enclosure seems o have been roughly trapezoidal, the inner being set near its N side; its rampart nearly obliterated. Its area was about 0.9ha. From middle of S side, a bank, traced for 52m to S, then turns E until destroyed by modern quarry. May have been a field boundary.

Approximately half the site was excavated. In its original form, the site was undefended, but was provided with a palisade in the second phase and with earthwork defences in its third phase, all Iron Age. The first phase also produced part of a timber roundhouse. Occupation continued into the Roman period, and the site seems to have been a farmstead throughout its period of use. (Davies 1967- Wiggins and Evans 2005)

Sources :
Evans, E M , 2001 , Romano-British southeast Wales settlement survey: Final report ( © GGAT)
Wiggins, H and Evans, E , 2005 , Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan with recommendations for fieldwork
Wilson D.R. , 1967 , Roman Britain in 1966: Sites Explored , Journal of Roman Studies : 57 : 174-175
Wilson D.R. , 1968 , Roman Britain in 1967. I. Sites Explored , Journal of Roman Studies : 58 : 176-177
Wilson D.R., Wright R.P. & Hassal M.W.C. , 1974 , Roman Britain in 1973 , Brittania : 5 : 397-480
01/PM List/RCHM/1976/Glam Invent/No691
02/MM Record Card/OS/1957/SS 87 NE 17
07/MM Record Card/OS/1978/SS 87 NE 17
06/PM Excav Report/DOE/Davies JL/1973/Archaeol Excavations/p114
03/PM Desc Text/Evans CJO/1944/Glam Hist & Topography/p437
08/PM Excav Report/CBA/Davies JL/1966/Arch in Wales/No6 p5
05/PM Mention/DMV Research Group/1964/12th Annual Report
09/PM Excav Report/CBA/Davies JL/1967/Arch in Wales/p7
04/PM Note/Davies JL/1973/Arch in Wales p24 no11
10/PM Note/Wilson DR/1968/IRS/Vol58 pp176-7

Events :
E000171 : Cae Summerhouse Camp (year : 1966)
E001455 : Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan (year : 2005)
E001657 : Romano-British Southeast Wales Settlement Survey (year : 1998-2001)
E008403 : Land at Cypress Gardens, Newton, Bridgend (year : 2021)

Related records
National Monuments Record NPRN 93055

Compiled date : 01-02-1977


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