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Pontcanna Fields, Parchmarks of Rectangular Structures

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NPRN419639
Map ReferenceST17NE
Grid ReferenceST1699077670
Unitary (Local) AuthorityCardiff
Old CountyGlamorgan
CommunityRiverside
Type Of SiteLONGHOUSE
PeriodMedieval
Description
Royal Commission aerial reconnaissance on 22nd July 2013 recorded a group of four or more rectangular ditched enclosures, and other features, in the parched grassland of Pontcanna Fields in the centre of Cardiff. A further example of an identical enclosure lies isolated some 230m north-northwest of the main concentration.

The enclosures are all similar in construction, measuring approx. 20m x 8m, with broad side ditches and a narrower cross-ditch at each end. The enclosures appear similar in morphology to medieval longhouses, Neolithic mortuary structures or pillow mounds. They appear to be archaeological, and not a product of the many recent uses which Pontcanna Fields has been put to in the past two centuries.

Close to and south-east of the main group of rectangular structures, alongside the river at ST1708 7759, is a square enclosure, with inner structures, linked to a long field boundary. This enclosure may be a field, or a more formal structure associated with the nearby settlement or rabbit warren.

T. Driver, RCAHMW, 2013