Foreword by Andrew Marvell Chief Executive
Welcome to Discovery and Learning. This booklet briefly describes some of the work that the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust has carried out in the past year. We hope that this will provide a stimulus for you to explore the diversity and richness of the historic environment in South Wales. The preservation of the historic environment depends on a consensus of support and appreciation of value by all of us. Two of the projects, Gelligaer Common and Arfordir, briefly described in these pages, provide examples of how the Trust is actively engaging communities in investigating and recording their local heritage. Other pages show how rich our shared heritage is, and in the case of Ynysfach Ironworks describe the remains of a great Welsh industrial innovation and how much that was thought to have gone can still survive. I hope that you can make your own journeys of discovery.
RE
TE GI S R
ED
N
I A
IO
OR
A N I SAT
G
Foreword
Andrew Marvell Chief Executive June 2012
Contents
Contents
A prehistoric sacred mountain at Gelligaer
Pages 1-4
‘A landscape white with churches’
Pages 5-8
Excavations at Ynysfach Ironworks
Pages 9-12
Recording Second World War Airfields
Pages 13-16
Arfordir: Monitoring and recording our eroding coastline
Pages 17-20
Discovery and Learning 2012 The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Limited
Discovery and Learning 2012
Discovery and Learning 2012 The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Limited
Discovery and Learning 2012
A prehistoric sacred mountain at Gelligaer by Edith Evans When the Register of Landscapes of Special Historic Interest in Wales was published in 2001, it included Gelligaer Common because it was 'a rare...upland landscape' which 'represented continuity of land use and activity from the prehistoric period to the recent past'. However, it's only over the past year that we have come to realise just how long the continuity has lasted, and how rare for Wales is some of the archaeology.
Brecon Gaer
Mynydd Marchywel Pen Garnbugail Coly Uchaf Maen Cattwg
Bryn yr Hebog Bargoed Gelligaer
Simondston
ABOVE: Gelligaer Common - despite its seemingly featureless outlook it harbours varied and plentiful evidence of human activity.
Key to conventions Rock art
RIGHT: Gelligaer Common, an area rich in archaeological remains, has seen the land used from prehistoric times up until the recent past. Plan showing sites investigated during the survey.
Standing stone Cairnfield Round cairn
GRID N
Ring cairn 0
1.00
2.00km
1
A prehistoric sacred mountain at Gelligaer Last August we led a walk to introduce members of Groundwork Caerphilly to the archaeology of Pen Garnbugail the highest summit on the common - and the area on its eastern side. This is the part of the common where archaeological sites are thickest, with Bronze Age burial cairns and cairnfields, the Roman road between the forts at Gelligaer and Brecon Gaer, and medieval platform houses and field boundaries. It was while we were walking between the cairns on the eastern slopes of Pen Garnbugail and the platform houses at Coly Uchaf that one of the people from Groundwork Caerphilly spotted that there was a cup-mark on one of the rocks. It seemed too good to be true, so we sent pictures off to Dr George Nash of Bristol University, who is an expert on rock art. He was enthusiastic too, so we thought that it would be a good idea to see whether there was more rock art to be found on the common and put a proposal to Cadw to carry out a community archaeology survey to look for it. Cadw was quite keen too, but couldn't give us any funding until the end of the financial year. So in March, the Trust and Groundwork Caerphilly assembled a bunch of volunteers and we went off to see what we could find.
LEFT: The original cup-marked stone photographed in 2011. BELOW: The cup-mark photographed from above (it is approximately 10cm across).
LEFT: The volunteers find out about the cairns on the common.
2
A prehistoric sacred mountain at Gelligaer Obviously, in the couple of weeks we had available we weren't going to be able to cover the whole of the common, so we concentrated our efforts on Pen Garnbugail and the area immediately around it. All in all, we made a systematic search of about one sixth of the area. This search didn't actually produce any rock art, although we did record a small standing stone associated with the Coly Uchaf cairnfield that had been missed during earlier examinations of the site. However, two of our volunteers told us about a carving on Bryn yr Hebog on the eastern side of the common. This has a group of markings consisting of three small cup-marks and a crescent, and then a single cup-mark on another part of the stone. This looks very authentic too, although we still need to have it definitively confirmed. RIGHT: The standing stone associated with the Coly Uchaf cairnfield.
Position of carved image on stone (see scaled image below)
Stone slab
Ground surface
0
15.00
30.00cm
ABOVE LEFT: Recording the new cup-marked stone on Bryn yr Hebog. LEFT: The main group of markings on the Bryn yr Hebog stone. ABOVE: At top is an elevation drawing showing the actual position of the carved image on the Bryn yr Hebog stone, below it is a scaled image showing the three small cup-marks and crescent.
3
A prehistoric sacred mountain at Gelligaer The discovery of all these cup-marks is very exciting. Although rock art is common in some parts of the British Isles, such as the northeast of England, very little has been found in Wales. In Glamorgan we have Maen Cattwg just outside Gelligaer village. We also have a few other places where pieces of rock with cup-marks have been found - one that had been built into the Simondston cairn excavated by the National Museum of Wales near Bridgend just before the start of the Second World War, another stone found in Bargoed in the 1930s, and two recently spotted on Mynydd Marchywel just north of Neath. So our two new pieces are a significant addition. RIGHT: We went to look at Maen Cattwg at the start of the project, so we would know what to look for on the common.
The other interesting thing is the date. Cup-marks are Neolithic, so that shows that people were visiting the ridge at Gelligaer thousands of years earlier than we originally thought. We have always known that it was a special place in the Bronze Age, because of all the cairns. We think it was a sacred mountain, one of the spiritual places of Bronze Age South Wales. It now looks as though Bronze Age people were merely carrying a tradition that had started thousands of years before, when people first started to leave a permanent mark on the landscape.
Key to conventions Stone in situ (with obscured edge (dashed line)) and direction of slope (arrow)) Displaced stone Stony bank GR
ID
Disturbed area 0
N
2.50
5.00m
ABOVE AND RIGHT: One of the other things we did on the project was to carry out a new survey and plan of the ring cairn below the summit of Pen Garnbugail. It had changed a lot since it was surveyed by the Royal Commission in the 1960's.
4
Discovery and Learning 2012
‘A landscape white with churches’ by Richard Roberts The four Welsh Archaeological Trusts have been working with Cadw for more than ten years on a review of all known monuments in Wales. After having completed the prehistoric and Roman periods, we are now dealing with those in later periods. A preliminary study of medieval and early post-medieval sites carried out in 2010 showed us where the main gaps in our knowledge were. Subsequently, Cadw gave us grants to look at monastic sites, abandoned chapels and churches, holy wells and some of the sculpture associated with medieval churches, to assess them and look at ways in which they could be protected for the future.
Cilybebyll
Llanfair Cilgoed Grace Dieu Abbey Llantarnam Abbey Neath Abbey
Margam Abbey Pen-y-fai St Andrews Minor Llantrithyd
Goldcliff Priory Pistyll Golau St Andrews Major
LEFT: Calvary cross socket stone (centre mid foreground) at Cilybebyll Church, near Pontardawe. BELOW: Map showing protected and unprotected abandoned churches and chapels in southeast Wales.
Swansea n
Newport
th
of
e th
r ve Se
u Mo
Cardiff
Key to conventions 244metre contour Unprotected Medieval Churches Unprotected Medieval Chapels
Bristol Channel
Protected Medieval Chapels (Listed Buildings) Protected Medieval Chapels (SAM’s) GRID
0
10.00
20.00km
N
5
‘A landscape white with churches’ It is only recently that the monastic remains at Goldcliff Priory were plotted from air photographs. This project gave us an opportunity to examine the earthworks at ground level. At Llanfair Cilgoed, the Victorian church stands next to the remains of a monastic grange, complete with chapel. There has been some archaeological work here, but more could be done. A particularly interesting little church was St Andrews Minor near Llandow in the Vale of Glamorgan. Unlike its much larger cousin St Andrews Major just outside Barry, this parish church went out of use at a relatively early date and survives as a tiny little box of a building, nearly up to roof level. Around it are the earthworks of the churchyard and the village whose abandonment meant that there was no further use for a church. ABOVE: Aerial view of Goldcliff Priory showing a range of monastic buildings (centre left) and rectangular enclosure (centre).
St Andrew’s Church (remains of)
02244m Church enclosure
Church Farm
GRID N
0
100.00
200.00m
ABOVE LEFT: The evocative remains of St Andrew’s Church require conservation and consolidation to preserve it for the future.
6
ABOVE: A plan of St Andrew’s Minor Church showing the earthwork boundaries of the churchyard.
‘A landscape white with churches’ Some of the most interesting carvings were originally part of medieval churchyard crosses. At Llantrithyd we looked at a decorated stone that might originally have been the base for a Norman cross - if this is the case, it is extremely rare in Glamorgan. Another rare survival is the head of a cross carved with the Trinity on one side and St Leonard on the other. Surprisingly, we found this at the Victorian church at Pen-y-fai near Bridgend where it had been moved possibly from Newcastle church, which was dedicated to St Leonard in the Middle Ages. Another possibility is that it might have been from a wayside cross, which would make it a unique survival in the county.
ABOVE LEFT: Circular base or socket stone, in the churchyard at Llantrithyd, with finely carved Romanesque pilasters (scale 1.00m). LEFT: Delicately carved Trinity on the cross-head at Pen-y-fai. BELOW: Map showing distribution of ecclesiastical sculpture in Glamorgan - graded using criteria set for the project.
Swansea n
Newport
Key to conventions
0
10.00
20.00km
of
th
Mo
Cardiff
244metre contour Protected Sites (SAM’s and Listed Buildings) Significance Value A Sites Significance Value B Sites Significance Value B/C Sites Significance Value B/U Sites Significance Value C Sites Significance Value D/U and U Sites
h ut
er ev eS
Bristol Channel GRID N
7
‘A landscape white with churches’ We looked at ways in which to investigate these monuments, conserve them and present them to the public, for example through a combination of information panels and heritage trails. At some sites there is scope for projects with community involvement. At some major monastic sites, such as Goldcliff Priory, Grace Dieu Abbey, Llantarnam Abbey, and Margam Abbey, geophysical, topographic survey, and field walking would give us a greater understanding of the extent and nature of surviving remains within their precincts. In a few cases, we have recommended small, carefully positioned excavations to confirm details of buried remains. LEFT: Remains of well head structure at Pistyll Golau, hidden in a wooded valley on the edge of Cardiff. This site was reputedly a healing well (scale 1.00m). RIGHT: Tintern Abbey, showing church and monastic buildings, a site under Cadw’s guardianship.
Riv er W ye
Tintern Parva 00717g 00714g 00718g
Remains of Tintern Abbey Cistercian founded 1131
00713g
St Mary’s Church (ruin)
St Anne’s House and remains of St Anne’s Chapel
Key to conventions Medieval Monastic sites, Protected Medieval Monastic sites, Unprotected Monastic Precinct GRID
Cadw SAM areas 0
100.00
200.00m
N
ABOVE: The precincts of Tintern Abbey, showing archaeological sites and protected areas. LEFT: The monastic buildings of Neath Abbey, an important site belonging to the Cistercian Order, were converted to a Tudor mansion following the Reformation. RIGHT: Neath Abbey’s gatehouse is now separated from the rest of the abbey by industrial and urban development.
8
Discovery and Learning 2012
Excavations at Ynysfach Ironworks by Rowena Hart Parts of the Ynysfach Ironworks have been excavated by the Trust ahead of the construction of a new building at Merthyr Tydfil College. The principal buildings we uncovered were the southern engine house and associated chimney and boiler house, a casting house, and, uniquely for surviving Welsh iron processing centres, a well preserved refinery building.
Ynysfach Ironworks
Merthyr Tydfil
ABOVE: The Ynysfach Ironworks as painted by Penry Williams c.1817. The painting clearly shows the early casting house with the twin blast furnaces behind and to the right the northern engine house and two chimney stacks. RIGHT: The northern engine house at Ynysfach. Restored during the 1990's and is a Grade II* Listed Building. BELOW FAR RIGHT: William Crawshay II (1788-1867), grandson of Richard Crawshay. BELOW RIGHT: Richard Crawshay (1739-1810), owner of Ynysfach and Cyfarthfa Ironworks.
The Ynysfach Ironworks opened in 1801 under the ownership of the iron-master Richard Crawshay. In the first half of the nineteenth century it was used to smelt and refine iron whereas, its larger partner, Cyfarthfa Ironworks located less than 1km upstream of the River Taff and also owned by Richard Crawshay, was concerned with puddling and rolling the metal. The refining process undertaken at Ynysfach was also known as the Welsh process. This involved converting grey cast iron into wrought iron of the very highest quality. It is likely that the Ynysfach Ironworks were purpose built by Richard Crawshay for this process.
9
Excavations at Ynysfach Ironworks This first phase of building work undertaken by Crawshay comprised a twin blast furnace, a single (northern) engine house and a boiler house complex with chimney stack, plus a small refinery. A significant expansion to the works at Ynysfach came in 1839 when Richard’s grandson William Crawshay II (17881867) built two additional blast furnaces and associated casting houses. A second (southern) engine house and a significant extension to the refinery building was also made. This expansion was clearly seen in the excavated remains of the site.
ABOVE: Ynysfach Ironworks: the monumental style of building is reflected here in the southern engine house and casting houses with their well-dressed limestone quoins and arches, typical of Richard Crawshays building methods during the earlier phases of construction of the ironworks (photo c.1910). RIGHT: An extract from the Public Health Map of Merthyr Tydfil 1852. The Trusts’ excavations concentrated on the southern engine house, southern boiler house and the refinery.
Northern Boiler House
Northern Engine House
Our excavations exposed the remains of the southern engine house, boiler house, chimney complex and the refinery. In places the walls survived to a height of more than 2 metres. Many of the Crawshay's industrial buildings were constructed in a monumental style, and this is the case at Ynysfach, where the well-dressed stone buildings were finished with cut limestone quoins and arches.
1801 Blast Furnace 1839 Blast Furnaces
1801 Refinery 1839 Refinery Casting Houses Southern Engine House Southern Boiler House
The early phase of the refinery building was also built in Crawshay's monumental tradition. It would have housed only two refining furnaces - a reflection of the production capacity of the blast furnaces and single casting house. The later expansion of the ironworks meant that the demand on the refinery increased and it was extended to support six refining furnaces.
10
Excavations at Ynysfach Ironworks Although none of the furnaces survived, it was clear where they would have been positioned and the remains of all six of the furnace bases and brick runout bays were revealed during the excavation. Each furnace would have been fixed upon large stone and brick bases which joined to a run-out bay. These runout bays would have held large iron water-holding troughs, one of which was found in-situ. Fitting neatly on top of this large trough would have sat a shallower trough to hold the refined metal as it flowed out of the refining furnace. The large tank below would have held water to cool and solidify the metal above ready for breaking up into manageable pieces, before being sent by canal boat, and later by tram, to Cyfarthfa Ironworks for further processing. LEFT: A refining furnace base (left) with run-out bay and cooling trough (right). BELOW: Plan showing run-out bay with surviving culverts and channels.
Possible extent of housing for furnace area
Projected line of wall
Water run-off channel from earlier phase of ironworks (here obsolete)
East wall of refinery
Water run-off channel
Water run-off channel Iron spike
Water-filled cooling trough
Projected line of wall Water run-off channel Water run-off channel
Key to conventions Brickwork
Iron (Fe) staining
Brickwork (underlaying)
Iron (Fe) plate
Brickwork (indistinct edge)
Lime mortar
Stone
Heat affected area
Stone (underlaying)
Vertical edge
Slope
Water
RIGHT: Archaeologists survey and record the furnace base and cooling trough areas at Ynysfach Ironworks.
GRID
0
1.00
2.00metres
N
A complex of brick and stone built drains surrounding the run-out bays was excavated and these would have ensured both a cool water supply to the cooling troughs and the rapid removal of the water to the nearby canal once the water had been used in order to avoid potential explosion if it was left to collect around the furnaces. In the early phase of the works these drains were capped by stone, and later by large iron plates.
11
Excavations at Ynysfach Ironworks Parts of the supporting infrastructure - tramroads with rails, tie bars and stone sleepers - were also discovered. Some of these were for transporting within the works, others to take the finished product to the Cyfarthfa Ironworks and elsewhere.
ABOVE RIGHT: Ynysfach Ironworks: hundreds of iron fittings, rods, straps and rings were recovered during the excavation (scale 1.00m). ABOVE: Ynysfach Ironworks: archaeologists excavating the remains of the refinery building. LEFT: Ynysfach Ironworks: the remains of the chimney stack (left) and the entrance to the boiler house (centre right). RIGHT: Ynysfach Ironworks: stone tramroad sleepers.
12
Discovery and Learning 2012
Recording Second World War Airfields by Paul Huckfield Contrary to popular belief, Wales was not a quiet backwater during the conflicts of the 20th century. Because it was so far from the Continent, it was ideal for many support operations. These included manufacturing, maintenance and storage of armaments, military training, and research and development, including weapons testing. The military installations included many airfields, which developed distinct functions and purposes giving each its own unique character. Fighter stations defended the industrial towns and the docks that were targets for German bombers. Training and storage units, which were tasked with the reception, storage and despatch of RAF aircraft, covered large areas of the landscape.
RAF Fairwood Common
Chepstow Racecourse (No.7 Satellite RAF Stormy Down Landing Ground) St Bride’s RAF Cardiff (No.6 Satellite Landing Ground) (Military use of Pengam Moors) RAF Llandow RAF Rhoose RAF St Athan
Area shown enlarged above GRID N
0
0.50
1.00km
As part of a study of WWII sites across the whole of Wales, Cadw has funded us to survey and record eight airfields. All of these stations were planned in accordance with requirements, first laid down in 1914, that fabric must be dispersed to limit the damage if they were attacked. If necessary, functions could be switched from a damaged installation to another one on a different part of the airfield.
ABOVE LEFT: RAF Fairwood Common airfield (red), shown on a modern map. The airfield offered protection to the whole of the Bristol Channel area during World War II. ABOVE RIGHT: Aerial photograph of RAF Stormy Down, taken on 3rd May 1941 by the German Luftwaffe. The numbered key refers to anti-aircraft gun positions, direction finding equipment and other key target areas for bombers.
“The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion”. Winston S Churchill, August 20th 1940, House of Commons.
13
Recording Second World War Airfields Airfields were divided into the separate functional areas of flying field, domestic sites and technical sites. In the Second World War, they were also provided with close defences in the form of pillboxes and battle headquarters. Our survey showed that, at some of them, original structures still remained in spite of the way the airfields had been used for other purposes after the war. At RAF Rhoose, now Cardiff International Airport, a Robin-type hangar still survives, now used to house small light private aircraft belonging to the Cardiff Aero Club. Although this was a common type of hangar during the Second World War, this example is thought to be the only one now left in Wales.
ABOVE: Robin-type hangar at RAF Rhoose. The original end doors are still in place and operational. This type of hangar was extensively used during World War II but the one above may be the last surviving example in Wales. LEFT: This pillbox at Llandow provided close defense against any ground attack (scale 2.00m).
14
Recording Second World War Airfields Alongside our other modern airport, near Swansea, there are also interesting survivals from when it was RAF Fairwood Common, a forward airfield for night fighters. The Flight Office not only provided office accommodation for flight commanders and flight sergeants, but also included pilots' rest rooms, storerooms and locker rooms. Sleeping shelters were built to accommodate 33 men of each flight assigned on night scramble duties, and were located close to the aircraft fighter pens so that during an emergency pilots did not have far to run to get to their aircraft. The internal space is divided into six bays, with two bunks per bay. The bunks still have their wooden frames though the wooden slats have been lost, and in one shelter the frames still have stencilled letters defining where each airman slept.
ABOVE: The flight office at RAF Fairwood Common. Large amounts of bitumen paint, probably used both for weatherproofing and camouflage, survive on the exterior (scale 1.00m). LEFT: Hardened sleeping shelter at RAF Fairwood Common. It has a reinforced concrete roof and building bands with blast porches protecting each doorway. RIGHT: Inside the sleeping shelter there is space enough for twelve bunks. The airmen were accommodated as close as possible to their aircraft so that they could get into the air quickly during an emergency.
15
Recording Second World War Airfields The two-storey temporary brick and timber watch office at RAF Llandow (now an industrial estate) was originally laid out with the meteorological office, teleprinter room, latrines, duty pilot's rest room, switch room and watch office on the ground floor, and the signals office, controller's rest room, control room with telephone exchange above. Llandow was an ASU (Aircraft Storage Unit) station and a favourite structure on sites like this was the K-type hangar, whose main function was storage.
ABOVE RIGHT TOP: A K-type hangar, widely used at RAF airfields for storage. ABOVE: The watch office at Llandow. The building is still in use as part of Llandow Trading Estate. ABOVE RIGHT: RAF Llandow: a Stanton shelter, built by the Stanton Ironworks Company in Derbyshire. Made of pre-cast reinforced concrete these shelters were able to accommodate up to 50 personnel. Photograph showing entrance (scale 2.00m). FAR RIGHT: RAF Llandow: interior view of a Stanton shelter. RIGHT: RAF Llandow: Stanton shelter. Photograph showing exit (scale 2.00m).
16
Discovery and Learning 2012
Arfordir: Monitoring and recording our eroding coastland by Ellie Graham The 'Arfordir' project has been set up to get local communities along the Welsh coast involved with monitoring change to eroding archaeological sites and recording these and new exposures where they are under particular threat. Coastal areas have been a focal point of human activity for thousands of years, and the coast of South Wales includes sites dating from early prehistoric times to the present day.
Broughton Bay The Gower
Swansea Bay
Oystermouth Margam
Penarth
Kenfig Merthyr Mawr
Barry
ABOVE: The iconic Worm’s Head at Rhossili, Gower, which includes an Iron Age promontory fort, flint scatters, caves and a deserted medieval settlement. ABOVE RIGHT: Volunteers on a guided walk to Burry Holms, Gower, visiting the promontory fort. RIGHT: A recently collapsed section of cliff at Dunraven, South Glamorgan. Note the exposed area of burning (centre).
17
Arfordir: Monitoring and recording our eroding coastland The earliest sites include caves inhabited before the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel were formed at the end of the last Ice Age. In the Neolithic and Bronze Ages the coast extended much further out than it does today and was occupied by small settlements linked by wooden trackways. Later on in the Iron Age some of the promontories along the coast were fortified and some of these were re-occupied by the Romans and also people living in South Wales after they left. Trade has always been important to the South Wales economy and there are many wrecks on the coastline as well as the remains of ports, harbours, landing places and defensive sites. Other remains, such as fish traps, are connected with exploitation of natural resources.
Volunteers have been given specific training in how to identify archaeological sites, monitor and record change and make proper notification as well as partaking in some excavation and recording of particularly threatened sites. This has included specialist training by the Nautical Archaeology Society on the recording of hulks.
ABOVE LEFT: Volunteers learning how to record hulks and wrecks on a training weekend with the Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS). LEFT: Artists’ reconstruction drawing of how the Salt House may have looked when it was at the height of its production - during the late 16th century. BELOW: The Salt House, Port Eynon, Gower: an example of how people have made use of natural resources, in this case sea water, in and around our coastal areas.
18
Arfordir: Monitoring and recording our eroding coastland The South Wales coastline is varied with many different environments: saltmarshes; sand dunes; peat shelves; cliffs. It is very vulnerable to erosion. The causes can be both natural (including climate change), and human - some of the things we do can have severe impacts on these sometimes very sensitive environments and archaeological remains.
ABOVE: Brynmill, Swansea Bay: this view of one side of a ‘V’ shaped, stone fish trap shows an additional structure (circled red) which was built into the side of the main trap. These traps were used for hundreds of years to catch fish as the tide receded, funnelling the catch into the narrow end of the ‘V’ and from there into an attached basket. RIGHT: Whiteford Point lighthouse, Burry Estuary: the last remaining cast-iron lighthouse in Britain. LEFT: Cave at Broughton Bay, Gower. The earliest evidence for human occupation during the Ice Age is found at some of the caves around the Gower coast. BELOW: Volunteers take a breather at Merthyr Mawr.
It would be impossible for existing agencies to monitor the constant change. However, with training, volunteers have already been able to make important contributions to the understanding, recording, and protection of our coastal heritage. Those who visit their coastline regularly are already familiar with the landscape, and are perfectly placed to help us. So far we have supported the establishment of groups working in Gower, Swansea Bay, and around Margam, Kenfig and Merthyr Mawr. In 2012 we will be expanding the programme along the Vale of Glamorgan coastline to Penarth and Barry. GET INVOLVED! “Would you like to take part in the ARFORDIR project and help look after your coastal heritage?” See the contact details and website addresses on page 20
19
Arfordir: Monitoring and recording our eroding coastland Key to conventions
Some of the new discoveries are featured in the pictures accompanying this article. These include parts of a possible medieval building eroding out of the dunes at Broughton Bay in northwest Gower, and the remains of a prehistoric trackway in Swansea Bay excavated by volunteers with professional supervision in February 2012.
Coarse conglomerate Medium conglomerate Dark sandstone Light/medium sandstone Sand Northeast
Southwest
002
(001)
003
0
0.50
1.00m
ABOVE LEFT: Possible remains of a medieval building at Broughton Bay, Gower (scale 1.00m). ABOVE: The remains are recorded using surveying, photographic and written record techniques which will eventually form a detailed report. FAR LEFT: The eastern area of the trackway, which was sophisticated in its construction, with upright timbers anchoring the structure and included possible repairs to the surface. Timber trackways were built where the ground was very boggy, so that people could walk to hunting and fishing grounds. LEFT: Prehistoric trackway discovered at Oystermouth, Swansea Bay. This photograph shows the eastern area of trackway which, at over 3 metres wide, with a clear depression in the middle of it, suggests it saw quite heavy traffic.
Key to conventions Vertical timbers Timbers overlaying GRID N
0
20
Timbers underlaying Position of cut marks 1.00
2.00m
The project has a dedicated website http://www.ggat.org.uk/arfordir/enter.html including contact information and supporting resources http://www.ggat.org.uk/arfordir/resources.html Reports on previous works can also be found online http://www.ggat.org.uk/arfordir/slideshow/archive.html and there are links to similar projects in Wales and other parts of the United Kingdom. Further information can also be found on the Arfordir blog http://arfordir.wordpress.com/ and some pictures are hosted on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/groups/arfordir/
Discovery and Learning 2012
Discovery and Learning 2012 The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Limited