BR431

Cefn-Brynich Roman Fort  

07/03/2024  

Designated  

Powys  

Brecon  

 

 

Defence  

Fort  

Roman  

The monument comprises the remains of a Roman fort complex of probable pre-Flavian, mid-1st-century AD, date located immediately to the east of Brecon. The site is located on a gentle SW-facing slope overlooking the River Usk and is bisected by the modern A40 trunk road. The fort was identified through cropmarks on aerial photographs taken in 2013, although finds of Claudio-Neronian coins (pre-AD69) from the locality of the fort had indicated the existence of a military installation in 1999. Subsequent LiDAR and field analysis has revealed that slight earthworks survive on the projected line of the ramparts, some preserved within existing field boundaries. The fort measures 260m N-S by 215m E-W, covering an area of 5.5 ha. It conforms to the classic ‘playing card’ plan, with straight sides and rounded corners and appears to have been defended by an earthen bank and multiple external ditches. The cropmarks indicate that the fort had an annexe on the southern side and a possible marching camp or annexe on the western side. The southern annexe was defined by two pairs of parallel ditches extending from the south-eastern and south-western corners of the main fort. The western annexe/marching camp comprised a single ditched rectangular enclosure extending 120m from the western side of the main fort. A small square enclosure has also been identified through analysis of LiDAR images 70m NW of the fort. The square enclosure measures 55m by 55m and is defined by the remains of a bank with an external ditch; it is currently undated but has been interpreted as a possible Roman fortlet or training fort. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of the early Roman military conquest and colonisation of Wales, particularly relating to the pre-Flavian period in the Brecon area, for which evidence is slight. The monument may be expected to contain archaeological information related to chronology, building techniques and functional detail, as well as artefacts, ecofacts and information related to its construction, use and abandonment. The importance of the site is further enhanced by the group value it shares with other Roman forts in the local vicinity, including Brecon Gaer (BR001) and Pen-y-Gaer (BR174). Although the fort has been damaged in the past, with the construction of the A40 and the southern half under regular cultivation, there is a strong possibility that buried archaeological deposits survive intact within the fort and other associated features. The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It comprises two areas separated by the A40: Area A to the north of the road and Area B to the south of the road. Area A is roughly rectangular in plan, centred on OS NGR SO 07319 27507, and measures 400m E-W by 160m N-S. Area B is irregular in plan, centred on OS NGR SO 07253 27354 and measures 500m NW-SE by 120m N-S. Archaeological Items Fort The fort conforms to the classic playing card shape typical of Roman forts, with the N-S axis longer than the E-W one, straight sides and rounded corners. At the time of scheduling the land containing the fort was under pasture however the fields to the south of the A40 are regularly ploughed for arable crops. The fort is located on the main E/W route through the Usk Valley, on the projected line of the road linking the fort at Abergavenny (MM193) with Brecon Gaer (BR001). The LiDAR and cropmark images from the southern half of the fort show that it was defended by a large earth bank, probably surmounted by a timber palisade, with external ditches. The cropmarks reveal a paired set of ditches immediately outside the bank, which run around the full circuit of the visible ramparts. On the eastern side of the fort was a third, much wider ditch set immediately outside the paired ditches, which runs the length of the eastern rampart and follows the curve of the SE corner. On the western side of the fort were two ditches, one 6m and one 25m from the outer defences. These ditches share the same alignment as the fort but extend further south than the southern defences. A slight scarp running E-W on the approximate alignment of the southern ramparts is all that is visible on the ground. On the northern side of the road the plan of the fort is evident in the LiDAR as the denuded remains of the defences. The hedgerows running along the eastern and western sides of the field are set on a low earth and stone scarp between 0.4-1m high which may represent the line of the rampart'. In the interior of the fort a parch mark visible on the aerial images is presumed to be the intervallum road which runs along the inside edge of the southern rampart. Three circular features, which also showed as parch marks, located near the SE corner have been interpreted as the remains of ovens dug into the base of the rampart. A hoard of forty-six pre-Flavian coins (pre-AD69) was discovered in the fields containing the fort, prior to its discovery. Southern Annexe The southern annexe is in a field that was under pasture at the time of scheduling but is also cultivated for arable crops. It is defined by pairs of parallel ditches running south from the SE and SW sides of the fort. These are of similar dimensions to the paired ditches surrounding the main fort and enclose an area of around 1 hectare but are likely to have been truncated by the construction of the Monmouth and Brecon canal. No internal features are evident in the aerial images and no remains are visible on the ground. Western Annexe The western annexe is in a field that was under pasture at the time of scheduling but is also cultivated for arable crops. It survives as a stretch of ditch located W of the main fort. The ditch appears to define the rounded NW corner of a rectangular enclosure. No internal features are evident in the aerial images and no remains are visible on the ground. The enclosure has been interpreted as either a further annexe or a marching camp that pre-dates the main fort. Square Enclosure The square enclosure is located approximately 70m to the west of the main fort in a field of permanent pasture and is defined by a bank and external ditch. It is orientated almost directly N-S, measures 55m across both axes and has the rounded corners characteristic of Roman forts. Given its size is has been interpreted as a possible fortlet or training fort and is presumed to be contemporary with the main fort. It is visible on the ground as a slight rise in the field of pasture.