Cropmarks recorded during Royal Commission aerial reconnaissance on 1st August 2013 (AP_2013_5594 to 5609) show a group of at least four defended enclosures sited east-west on an undulating ridge some 1km north of Lodge Wood Iron Age hillfort. Unusually, cropmarks show that the three largest defended enclosures are linked - or overlain - by a single linear ditch which can be traced running east to west for at least 1.35 kms.

The ditch runs along a broad watershed between minor streams to the north and south. It is unusual in that it interects three defended enclosures, presumed to be on Iron Age date. At the east side it cuts through the heart of the Malthouse Road (east) enclosure (NPRN 413962). To the west of this site at ST 3124 9217 is a form of entrance through the ditch, with the west terminal inturning south for a short distance. The ditch then continues west and intersects the south-east corner of the Malthouse Road (central) enclosure (NPRN 419680), and then continues west again before running just north of the Malthouse Road (south-west) enclosure (NPRN 419679). Some 90m west of this defended enclosure the ditch appears to reach a terminal in the form of a pair of short parallel ditches running south.

The ditch does relate directly to the present day landscape in that it springs off the line of a minor country lane at its eastern end, and then merges with the line of a field boundary at the west end (where the twin 'terminal' ditches are) which also forms a parish boundary. It could be that the parish boundary, and eastward continuation of the minor lane towards Caerleon which takes in a prominment local hillock, could fossilise the original course of a longer boundary ditch. It is significant that the ditch relates closely to three defended enclosures. Information recieved from Dr Mark Lewis, Caerleon Museum, in 2015, suggests that the ditch is likely to be a boundary of medieval date. The possibility remains that the medieval boundary may preserve an earlier alignment.


T. Driver, RCAHMW, Dec 2013.
Updated November 2015.