1. Caermead Roman villa, excavated 1887-8, 1938-9 & 1948, 1971, is presently represented by earthworks and traces of walling, c.84m N-S by 76m. A bank and ditch runs along the E of the site and continues to the S.

The villa, the largest in Glamorgan, was discovered and partly excavated in 1887-8 by J.Storrie and more fully examine by V. E. Nash-Williams in 1938-9 and 1948. A small area was re-excavated in 1971 in order to resolve a discrepancy in the dating evidence.

The plan recovered was that of a villa of double courtyard type, with ranges of buildings round an inner courtyard on the west and an outer yard on the east. The whole complex measured approximately 78 m from the north to south by 73 m from east to west. The material used was local limestone and sandstone, supplemented with Bath stone for such features as columns, finials and ridge-pieces. The roofs were covered with slabs of Pennant sandstone.
The north range comprised six rooms and contained an apartment with walls decorated with a coloured pattern and patterned mosaic floor. The west range included a suite of baths.

Small finds from the excavations included tiles, stonework (finials and portions of columns), painted wall plaster, window glass, fragments of two sculptured figures as well as knives, nails and horseshoes. Other finds included a number of skeletons of both horses and humans. Evidence for date was provided by both pottery and coins, with almost all dating between the mid-2nd and 4th centuries.

Source: RCAHMW., 1976. An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan, Volume I: Pre-Norman, Part II, The Iron Age and Roman Occupation. Cardiff: HMSO. 111-114

Lorna Leadbetter-Jones, For RCAHMW February 2013

2. Site visit and ground photography by T. Driver, RCAHMW, 22nd February 2013.
T. Driver, RCAHMW

3. Royal Commission aerial reconnaissance on the 22nd July 2013 recorded cropmarks of two significant enclosures in the immediate environs of Caermead villa. The first is a bow-sided bivallate enclosure some150m to the west at Water Lane (NPRN 419629). The second is a defended enclosure or villa some 800m south-southwest at Moorlands Farm (NPRN 419628).

T. Driver, RCAHMW, 2013.