NAR SO02NE2

1. Site of bathhouse complex, 21.64m east to west by 14.48m, comprising at least eight compartments, of which four were furnished with mosaics; uncovered 1783-4 (Hay 1785; Nash Williams 1950), on a site where building remains had been noted in 1698: geophysical survey & test-pitting over an area, 100m by 60m, 1993 & 1997 (Jones et al 1999), failed to positively locate the site of the bathhouse, which was probably destroyed following discovery; possible structural features, at given NGR, were thought to relate to the bathhouse, some 20m to the east of the traditional, mapped location, whilst remains of two parallel walls, 5.2m apart, some 30m SSW of given NGR, were thought to relate to a second structure, the 'mausoleum', noted in 1785: reports of the original discovery list 12 third-fourth century coins; the 1997 work produced a limited second to fourth century ceramic assemblage: much metal-working debris has been noted in the vicinity.

See CPAT report by Jones and Owen (2000) pp. 20-26 for summary of most recent fieldwork on the site of the villa and bath complex.

2. Royal Commission aerial reconnaissance to the north of the villa site under drought conditions on 21st July 2022 revealed cropmarks of a previously unrecorded enclosure group similar to a Romano-British or medieval farmstead complex. 

Sources:

Hay 1785 (Archaeologia 7), 205-10;
Nash Williams 1950 (BBCS 13.2 1949), 105-8;
RCAHMW 1986 Brecknock ii. Prehistoric & Roman, 179-182 [RV1];
Jones et al. 1999 (AW 39), 10-16.

Jones, NW & Owen, WJ. 2000. Roman Civil Settlements in Southern Powys. Archaeological Assessment. CPAT Report No. 265.

J.Wiles 16.11.04; Updated by Toby Driver, RCAHMW, 2024.