ME080

Brithdir Roman Fort  

 

Designated  

Gwynedd  

Brithdir and Llanfachreth  

277176  

318857  

Defence  

Fort  

Roman  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument. The monument comprises earthworks and buried features representing a Roman fort, dating to between the 1st and 4th century AD. The primary Roman fort network was designed and constructed by the Roman army for the purposes of military conquest and rule. Standing on a plateau above the village of Brithdir, the square, level platform of the fort is quite clear but the main area has been ploughed over the years and now consists of a smooth, flat interior with smoothly sloping banks, the slight traces of a rampart. The SE corner has been damaged by the road which passes on that side and in the autumn of 1966, a row of houses was built on the opposite side of the lane; Roman pottery and tiles being seen in spoil from the foundation trenches at this time. Archaeological excavation and geophysical survey in the 1990s revealed the presence of buried features outside and probably associated with the fort, most notably a ditched enclosure to the W and S and these areas are included in the scheduled area. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of Roman military organisation and control. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits, which may contain evidence concerning chronology, layout and building techniques. The monument forms an important element within the wider context of the Roman occupation of Wales. The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. The northern area includes the main fort and western part of the enclosure, the southern area includes the southern part of the enclosure.