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Bath House, Penydarren Roman Fort
Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 00835m
Trust : Glamorgan Gwent
Community : Park
Unitary authority : Merthyr Tydfil
NGR : SO04950666
Site Type (preferred type first) : Roman Building
Summary :
Outside the Penydarren Roman fort to the south, limited trenching revealed three large hypocausted rooms, walls, one or possibly two furnace-chambers and part of a stone culvert. These remains would appear to be those of the fort's bath house.
Description :
Limited trenching in the first decade of the 20th century outside Penydarren Roman fort, on the south side, revealed three large hypo-caused rooms, walls, one or possibly two furnace-chambers and part of a stone culvert. These remains would appear to be those of the fort's bath house.
Hypocaust 1 measured 30ft by 22ft (9x6.7m). It consisted of a grid of 14x9 pilae constructed of bricks 8in (0.2m) square (basales) standing on a subfloor made from concrete with an aggregate of broken brick and stone 4in (10mm) thick over a bed of rough stones 2ft or 3ft in thickness). Bricks 3ft (0.6m) square (biped ales) were found in the rubble and are assumed to have come from the main floor level, since the centres of the pilae were this distance apart in both directions. The walls had apparently been thoroughly robbed, although the remains of a flue containing large quantities of charcoal were noted on the north side of the hypocaust. Broken box tiles were found in the rubble (James 1906, 195-6).
Hypocaust 2, lying about 11 yards (10m) east of the first hypocaust, was an apse measuring 23x21ft (7x6.4m) over the walls. This was less complete than the first, but with a stone-lined drain which led from this to the lower open ground. Box tiles and roofing tiles were found in the rubble over the subfloor, and a quantity of black pottery in the drain (James 1906, 197). The plan given in Fig 1 of the report appears to show this drain as starting some distance from the east of the apse, skirting a small rectangular room and following a curving course to the north of Hypocaust 1 and its flue.
The written text goes on: About 12 yards (7.3m) to the south of the apse hypocaust were found the walls of a building about 4ft by 7ft (1.2x2.1m) partly built of square-shaped bricks 9in (0.225m) square (James 1906, 197). Haverfield did not hazard an interpretation for this, but it seems to be the structure marked brick furnace on the plan provided on the following page; both the text and Fig 1 record a wall that was traced eastwards to the boundary of the adjacent property; this wall was 3ft (0.9m) thick.
Hypocaust 3 lay to the southwest of the brick furnace It is described as measuring about 50x18ft (15x 5.5m), considerably larger than the first (although Fig 1 shows it as about the same size) and of the same general construction for the pilae and subfloor. The eastern wall of this room was preserved, and is described as being made of dressed stone and of considerable thickness.
The rubble included a large mass of tufa voussoirs towards the south end of the floor (James 1906, 198). Three other fragments of walling are shown associated with Hypocaust 3 on Fig 1, one at right-angle to the southern side of the floor, and two narrow walls set close together further south and not attached to any of the other structural remains; these look as though they may have formed a drain or a flue. Photographs (James 1906 figs 2-4) show two views of hypocausts and a flue, but it is not specified which they are. A deposit of brick and box flue tiles was discovered during a watching brief at SO 04937 06668 (Bellamy 2016).
Sources :
Bellamy, C. , 2016 , Merthyr Town Football Club, Penydarren Park, Merthyr Tydfil
James, F T , 1906 , Roman Remains: Penydarren Park, Merthyr Tydfil , Archaeologia Cambrensis : 61 : 193-208
02/PM Desc Text//Nash-Williams VE/1954/Roman Frontier in Wales/pp71-
01/MM Record Card/OS//1957/SO 00 NE 8.1/;
04/MM Photo/GGAT/Lewis W/1981//
03/PM Desc Text//James FT/1906/Archaeol Cambrensis/Vol6 pp193-208;
Events :
E006415 : Merthyr Town Football Club, Penydarren Park, Merthyr Tydfil (year : 2014-2015)
Related records
GGAT Historic Environment Record (HER) 00823m
Compiled date : 01-12-1977
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February 7, 2026, 6:17 am
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