New Breach Farm, Cowbridge

New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan Archaeological watching brief November 2008

IFA

OR G

R ION E

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GG AT

STER GI

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Prepared for Mr Andrew Thomas by Rob Dunning BSc

GGAT report no. 2008/056 Project no.P1269 National Grid Reference: SS 9750 7328

RAO No.15

The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd Heathfield House Heathfield Swansea SA1 6EL

Contents

Page

Summary ........................................................................................................................ 2 Acknowledgements......................................................................................................... 2 Copyright notice............................................................................................................. 2 1. Introduction.......................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Project background ........................................................................................ 3 1.2 Location, topography and geology ................................................................ 3 1.3 General archaeological background............................................................... 5 1.4 Site specific archaeological background........................................................ 6 2. Methodology ......................................................................................................... 7 3. Results ................................................................................................................... 8 4. Conclusions......................................................................................................... 11 Bibliography ............................................................................................................... 12 Appendix I .................................................................................................................. 13 Inventory of contexts ............................................................................................... 13

Figures Figure 1: Location of development area ....................................................................... 4 Figure 2: Location of Trenches 1 and 2 (red) ............................................................. 10

Plates Plate 1: View of Trench 1, looking southeast ............................................................... 8 Plate 2: View of Trench 2, looking southeast ............................................................... 9

Front cover: View of the existing farmhouse, looking southeast © GGAT 1

New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

Summary GGAT Projects undertook a watching brief during excavations for the renovation and extension of an existing farm house, as well as the construction of a garage at New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan (App No 2008/00583/FUL). No archaeologically significant features or structures were encountered during the course of the watching brief, and the only deposits uncovered were post-medieval or modern in date. Similarly all the recovered cultural material was of a post-medieval or modern date. Acknowledgements The project was managed by Richard Lewis BA MIFA and the fieldwork was undertaken by Rob Dunning BSc of GGAT Projects. The finds were processed and analysed by Steve Sell BA of GGAT Projects. The report and illustrations were compiled by Rob Dunning. Archaeological background is based on Primary Record Number (PRN) information supplied by the Historic Environment Record (HER) held at GGAT, Swansea. Copyright notice The copyright of this report is held by the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd, which has granted an exclusive licence to Mr Andrew Thomas and his agents to use and reproduce material it contains.

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New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

1. Introduction 1.1 Project background Planning consent has been granted for the renovation and extension of an existing farm house, as well as the construction of a garage at New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan (App No 2008/00583/FUL). One of the conditions (No. 7) of the planning consent states that ‘the developer shall ensure that a suitably qualified archaeologist is present during the undertaking of any ground disturbing works in the development area, so that an archaeological watching brief can be conducted.’ The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd (GGAT Projects) was commissioned by Mr Andrew Thomas to undertake the work, which took place on the 13th of August 2008.

1.2 Location, topography and geology New Breach Farm is situated approximately 2km to the southeast of Cowbridge at NGR SS 9750 7328. The farm lies on land that gently slopes to the south, with the current development being located to the east of the main farm buildings. Cowbridge itself is situated on a glacial terrace of sands and gravels. However, the surrounding area is composed of Jurassic lias with carboniferous limestone outcroppings, with the resultant soils being mostly brown earths (Robinson 1980).

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New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

N

0

2km

Based on the 1999 Ordnance Survey 1:25000 Explorer 165 map with the permission of The Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, © Crown Copyright, GlamorganGwent Archaeological Trust Ltd, Licence number Al10005976

Figure 1: Location of development area (red)

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New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

1.3 General archaeological background The area of Cowbridge was first occupied during the Roman period, and is likely the site of Bomium of the Antonine Itinerary lying on the coastal road from Caerleon to Carmarthen (Margary 1957, 58). The evidence suggests that the site has been occupied from the 1st century through to the 4th century AD, and whilst such an early settlement is likely to be military in nature, little evidence for such structures have been discovered. However, finds from a bath house at Arthur John car park included tiles bearing the stamp LEG II AUG, which suggests a link with the legionary fortress at Caerleon, (Evans 1996) even if it was no more than the use of soldiers to construct an official building (Evans 2000, 491). The settlement took the form of a ribbon development along the Cardiff-Neath road, with a likely cemetery at the western end, as indicated by the discovery of the ‘Cowbridge Lion’, a piece of funerary sculpture from Hopyard Meadow, now in the National Museum, Cardiff. Cowbridge itself was founded as a planned town in the middle of the 13th century by Richard de Clare, although it has been suggested that an established settlement may have already been in place prior to the granting of the charter in 1254. The medieval town can be divided into three separate areas of burgage plots; the walled town centre and the two undefended ‘suburbs’ of Eastgate and Westgate (Robinson 1980). No castle was constructed at Cowbridge as it was defended by the nearby Llanblethian Castle, but the town serviced de Clare’s manor at Boverton and his demesne lordships of Llanblethian and Talyfan. The town began to prosper, being ideally situated in fertile farmland and along the still important transportation line of the Roman road. Such prosperity is reflected in the increase in number of burgages from 59 in 1262, to 233 in 1295 and 276 in 1306, making it the fifth largest town in South Wales. With the aid of numerous charters which exempted Cowbridge from many of the Crown taxes, the number of burgages had risen to 320 in 1425. However, a slow decline began at this period and this can be seen in the decrease in revenue for the town from £17 15s. 11d. in 1427 to £5 18s. 6d. in 1457. By 1514 it had plummeted to £2 3s. 2d. The decline in the fortunes of the town seems to have been halted and indeed reversed after the Acts of Union (1536-43). Cowbridge was recognised as a borough and enjoyed its own Member of Parliament, and by 1543 the revenue had recovered to £9 10s (Appleton-Fox 1999). The town seems to have been remarkably static during the late post-medieval period, indeed both the Cowbridge Tithe map of 1841 and the 1st edition OS map of 1878 reveal that Cowbridge had an almost identical settlement pattern to that of the medieval period (Robinson 1980); the greater part of habitation was still concentrated in the town centre and Eastgate (now known as East Village). The tithe maps for Penlline and Llanbethian parishes show that the surrounding landscape was almost entirely agricultural in nature. Land ownership was divided between small farmers and large estates, with land usages being dominated by pasture and meadow, but with some arable fields. Indeed, it is not until the 20th century that the burgages become fully urbanised.

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New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

1.4 Site specific archaeological background New Breach Farm is located within a triangle of prehistoric round barrows designated as Scheduled Ancient Monuments, located to the northwest (03809s/307600/GM104), the southeast (00306s/307605/GM292), and to the west of the farm at Nash Manor (00309s/275857/GM106). There are also a number of earthwork features indicative of prehistoric occupation in the area, such as a semi-circular bank and ditch (01021s) and a small ringwork (02524s). Furthermore, the location of the proposed development in the valley bottom is one where it is possible that an undefended prehistoric settlement associated with such sites may be located. Whilst there is no evidence for the existence of the current farm on the 1st edition OS map of 1878, the 2nd edition OS map of 1899, or the 3rd edition OS map of 1919, they indicate the presence of a quarry and limekilns, as well as several small buildings that may be the precursor of the modern farm.

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New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

2. Methodology The intrusive groundworks monitored by the archaeological watching brief (see Figure 2) consisted of two trenches (1 and 2), excavated for the laying of foundations. A full written, drawn and photographic record was made of all archaeological deposits, in accordance with the GGAT Manual of Excavation Recording Techniques. Contexts were recorded using a single continuous numbering system, and are summarised in Appendix I. All significant contexts were photographed using a Nikon Coolpix 4500 digital camera. Should no further work be required, the site archive will be prepared according to the specifications in Management of Archaeological Projects (English Heritage 1991) Appendix 6. The site archive (including artefacts and ecofacts) will be deposited with an appropriate receiving organisation, in accordance with the UKIC and IFA Guidelines (Archaeological Archives: a guide to best practice in creation, compilation, transfer and curation (2007), and subject to the agreement of the legal landowner. A copy of the archive index will be deposited with the National Monuments Record, RCAHMW, Aberystwyth. After an appropriate period has elapsed, copies of the report and archive index will be deposited with the Historic Environment Record (HER) and National Monuments Record (NMR).

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New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

3. Results Trenches 1 and 2 both exhibited identical stratigraphies, with the basal deposit being a white-grey limestone bedrock (1003) with a minimum depth of 0.08m. This underlay a mid brown–orange clay (1002), containing frequent angular and sub-angular stones (less than 0.16m in diameter). This was overlain by a brown-grey clay loam topsoil (1001), which contained occasional rounded and sub-rounded stones (less than 0.02m in diameter).

Plate 1: View of Trench 1, looking southeast

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New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

Plate 2: View of Trench 2, looking southeast

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New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

Silos

Quarry (disused)

New Breach Farm

Trench 1

Trench 2

N 0

Figure 2: Location of Trenches 1 and 2 (red)

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50m

New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

4. Conclusions Both trenches revealed identical stratigraphies of a topsoil (1001) overlaying natural clay (1002) and bedrock (1003). All the recovered cultural material was of a postmedieval or modern date, and no archaeologically significant features, deposits or structures were encountered during the course of the observed groundworks.

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New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

Bibliography Appleton-Fox N, 1999, The Town Walls, Cowbridge: a report on a desk-based assessment, Marches Archaeology 057 Evans E M, 1996, Bear Field, in Parkhouse J and Evans E (eds.), Excavations in Cowbridge, South Glamorgan 1977-88, BAR British Series 245 Evans E M, 2000, The Caerleon canabae: excavations in the civil settlement 1984-90, Britannia Monograph 16 Margary I D, 1957, Roman Roads in Britain, vol 2, London Robinson D M, 1980, Cowbridge: the archaeology and topography of a small market town in the Vale of Glamorgan, GGAT Town Survey No. 1

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New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

Appendix I Inventory of contexts: Context 1001

Type D

Max Depth (m) 0m-0.14m

1002

D

0.14m-0.36m

1003

D

0.36m-0.44m n.b.

Description Brown-grey clay loam topsoil with occasional sub-rounded and rounded stones (<0.02m in diameter) Mid brown-orange clay with frequent subangular and angular stones (<0.16m in diameter) Limestone bedrock

Key: D: Deposit n.b.: not bottomed

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Period Modern

Natural Natural