The site of a Roman fort midway between Cardiff and Gelligaer set on rising ground above the western shore of the North Lake at Caerphilly Castle (NPRN 94497). Excavations in 1963 on the remains of the seventeenth century Caerphilly Redoubt (NPRN 300400) uncovered the remains of a Roman military enclosure, thought to be an auxiliary fort. Trenches were driven across the north-west and north-eastern defences. Consideration of the site topography suggests that the fort would have extended over an area of about 130m north-east to south-west by 100m and probably faced south-east. The site was occupied from the late first to the early second century. An auxiliary fort would typically house a garrison of about 500 and would have been the core of a more extensive settlement with a population of at least as many again.

Sources: Lewis in Archaeologia Cambrensis 115 (1966), 67-87
Jarrett 'The Roman Frontier in Wales', 2nd edition (1969), 64-5
RCAHMW Glamorgan Inventory I.2 (1976), 94-5

Associated with:
Roman road north of Cardiff (NPRN 305956)

John Wiles 14.05.07