Cropmarks of a large Roman marching camp at Capel Bangor were first identified from Bing Maps online imagery by Bryn Gethin in 2022. The cropmarks were then seen during RCAHMW aerial reconnaissance on 15th June 2023, as feint lines of weed regrowth following cropping of silage in the fields.

Only the eastern part of the marching camp survives, with the rounded north-eastern ‘playing card’ camp corner showing clearly as a cropmark in a field to the south of Maes-bangor farm at SN 6569 7979, with an additional internal boundary ditch just to the south. The eastern ditch of the camp can be seen as an intermittent cropmark running south, with the returning southern side of the camp clearly visible in a field at SN 658 793. The south-eastern corner has not currently shown as a cropmark. The western part of the camp has apparently now been lost due to the meanders of the River Rheidol.

T. Driver, RCAHMW, 24 July 2023. Updated August 2024

Site Record

Maes-bangor Roman marching camp, Capel Bangor