An Early-medieval corn-drying oven was recorded during an archaeological Strip Map Record (SMR) and Geophysical Survey (GS) on land to the south of the new St Athan NAR road scheme, Llanmaes, in 2020.
The oven was ovular in shape and was cut into the bedrock. The oven had definable outside and inside edges. The outer edge measured 2.65m (N-S) x 1.42m (E-W) and the inner rock-cut edge measured 1.58m (N-S) x 0.82m (E-W) and was 0.27m in depth. The oven had a 0.35m wide flue entrance to the southeast. Red heat affected stone and significant amounts of charcoal defined the course of the flue into the main oven bay. The oven floor was also characterised by red heat affected limestone bedrock and copious amounts of charcoal. Five postholes in the limestone bedrock were noted, little more than worked natural fissures and all filled with the primary oven fill. Two postholes flanked the flue entrance, probably marking the edge of a wattle and clom built oven structure and two postholes were located at the rear of the oven spaced 0.22m apart almost certainly represents the rear wall of a wattle and clom structure. A posthole noted off centre in the base of the oven may be the support post for a shelf where the grains were spread (on straw) to dry. The assumed clom structure would appear to have been around 0.25m in thickness based on the distance between the outer and inner edges of the oven, thick enough to prevent cracking during firing. ,
Reference: Black Mountains Archaeology, Report No. 178; p 39.
See: 3D Sketchfab model here https://p3d.in/xLkLe
T. Driver, RCAHMW, 2023.