MM351

Wyndcliff Roman Site  

09/06/2009  

Designated  

Monmouthshire  

St. Arvans  

352772  

197592  

Domestic  

Villa  

Roman  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a villa complex, which probably dates to the Romano-British period (AD 43 - 410). Remains on the ground were recorded in the late nineteenth century, but these are no longer visible. The best evidence for the site is from a negative cropmark on aerial photographs taken in 1996 and a subsequent geophysical survey. Both indicated a distinct stone-built building enclosed on the N and W sides by a curvilinear ditch. The building is aligned N-S and is rectangular in shape on plan. The cropmark shows evidence of internal divisions, including a corridor on the E side and a range of rooms, together with a range of associated external features. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of domestic and economic sites and practices in the Roman period. The monument is an important relic of the rural landscape in the Roman period. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of archaeological deposits relating to chronological detail, together with artefactual and structural evidence. The area scheduled comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is roughly oblong in shape on plan and measures 225m NE-SW by a maximum of 110m transversely.