Wales through Time


Abermagwr Roman Villa excavation

The Excavation

All the masonry from the wall bases had been systematically robbed with trenches dug down to the clay and stone-packed foundations. Discarded quarried stone and quantities of complete and broken roofing slates from the robbing were found high up in the site, intermixed with original collapse layers.

Robbing may have occurred when the nearby Trawsgoed mansion was under construction in the sixteenth century, as place-name evidence indicates that the villa was probably a standing ruin into medieval times. No convincing evidence has yet been found of any tessellated floors, mosaics or wall plaster.

The principal (central) Room 2 was floored with clay, as was the verandah, into which was set a stone-edged hearth at the west side. Evidence of several other hearths was uncovered in Room 2, comprising areas of intense burning on the clay floor. These may be attributed to later squatting activity, although one yielded a Roman cooking vessel broken in-situ together with drops of lead, perhaps resulting from industrial activity. 

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