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Forum: General Forum
Moderated by : Andy B , TimPrevett , Klingon , sem , MickM , TheCaptain , bat400 , coldrum , davidmorgan , Runemage , SolarMegalith
Respond to: Could this be Wales\'s oldest town ?
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Anonymous
User not Registered |  New Message Posted!2006-02-08 17:18
I'm aware that the Via Julia Maritima was certainly not the name of the Roman road, but, whatever it was called, there is no doubt that its route goes very close to Kenfig.
I visited the Kenfig Society's dig at Kenfig too and watched as they uncovered a medieval barn well outside the area of the town site.
The town site itself is designated as a site of special interest by CADW, which prevents all excavation there.
That's really why I would like to see a geophysical survey conducted, as everyone knows there's something there, but no-one knows what !
I wonder if Kenfig would be allowed to remain a total mystery if it was sited anywhere else...
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DaveM
Joined:
10-01-2006
Messages: 4
from Essex
 OFF-Line
| New Message Posted!2006-02-08 13:15
I remember Mr Jones and his search for Bomium from the days when I worked in Wales. Sadly, the enclosures shown on Speed's map are medieval or later deer parks and are not Roman forts.
The name 'via julia maritima' is unfortunately an invention, in a spurious itinerary supposedly recorded by Richard of Cirencester, but really an antiquarian invention of the 18th century.
A few years ago, the Kenfig Society were carrying out small-scale excavations near the castle, I remember going to visit them with the YACs
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Anonymous
User not Registered | New Message Posted!2006-01-23 20:20
Sorry for the inordinate delay in responding but I've been busy organising an international music event and building a business empire.
I was taught, as are today's Welsh schoolchildren, that our ancestors were simple shepherds whose lives involved moving their flocks between 'hafods' and 'hendres'. According to my history teachers, my ancestors must have warmly welcomed the first Norman invaders, who brought them civilisation and houses, but the truth is far different. The Welsh were barred from every early English town in Wales and the only difference they saw were that they no longer owned their ancestral lands.
If I am correct, the settlement at Kenfig grew from a vicus outside a Roman fort with its first church recorded in AD 520. It grew to become the centre of a peaceful lordship which covered most of south-east Wales.
When threatened by more powerful Welsh lords in the 11th Century, its lord called upon the Normans to help, which they kindly did.
The rest is history.
I believe that history is wrong. Kenfig is almost certainly one of Wales's oldest towns, and certainly the only one not to have been redeveloped for the last four centuries.
Someone out there must have access to geophysical surveying equipment and share my curiosity surely ?
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Anonymous
User not Registered |  New Message Posted!2005-01-22 11:47
Well, is it Wales's oldest town or not ?
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Steve21
Joined:
28-02-2004
Messages: 13
from South Wales
OFF-Line
| New Message Posted!2004-04-12 18:55
Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately every time I've been there, the site isn't working properly.
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Andy B
Joined:
13-02-2001
Messages: 6998
from Surrey, UK
OFF-Line
| New Message Posted!2004-04-02 08:35
As your maps are otherwise engaged, try this. The grid ref you gave above translates to this:
http://www.old-maps.co.uk/oldmaps/index_external.jsp?easting=290400&northing=178100
http://www.old-maps.co.uk
Cheers,
Andy
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Steve21
Joined:
28-02-2004
Messages: 13
from South Wales
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| New Message Posted!2004-04-01 19:57
I still haven't dug out my old OS maps, but, having moved quite recently, they could be anywhere !
I read Mr DM Jones's little book, and it was one of the things that prompted me to look elsewhere than Ewenny for Bovium, or Bomium, whichever you prefer. His books are very interesting, and describe a lost culture as Mr Jones cycles around the district, visiting friends and walking fields now covered by housing.
Ewenny may have been a Roman base, especially as Dunraven on the coast was believed to be the base of Caractus, before his capture in AD 51. Perhaps when they invaded south Wales 23 years later, the hillfort had again become a threat, so a fort nearby would be logical. The Roman road is said to have crossed the river Ogmore at Ewenny, so it would be easily resupplied and reinforced.
However, two problems remain.
The first is that no walls or even traces of walls, have been found at Ewenny, and nothing has shown up in aerial photographs. The scant remains Mr Jones described could have come from farming settlements, possibly even a villa, nearby. The second is a walled rectangular enclosure, the size of four football fields, sitting alongside the same road, underlying the medieval castle at Kenfig.
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Robc
Joined:
04-01-2003
Messages: 12
from Porthcawl, South Wales
OFF-Line
| New Message Posted!2004-04-01 18:54
I have been trolling through the RCAHMW database for information about Porthcawl-Bridgend area and they have Bomium listed at SS904781. This point is about 1km North of Ewenny.
I also picked up in the local library "Bomium a local history of Bridgend and surrounding villages" by D M Jones. He seems to place Ewenny as the final resting place of Bomium. Although he believes that there were two forts... one seems to be pre-Roman
and the Roman fort itself. He has used the John Spedes 1610 map of Glamorgan as part of his starting point for his search. This shows two forts in that area. He seems to back it up with a few finds. (But there does not seem to be any concrete proof).
But would recommend reading the booklet as it has quite a few other interesting local historical snipets.
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sem
Joined:
12-11-2003
Messages: 1704
from Bridgend,S.Wales
OFF-Line
| New Message Posted!2004-03-08 22:19
For an interesting angle on this area try "The Holy Kingdom" by Adrian Gilbert,Alan Wilson & Baram Blackett.Not 100% convincing but a reasonable guide to Dark-Age Glamorgan and Welsh History.
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Steve21
Joined:
28-02-2004
Messages: 13
from South Wales
OFF-Line
| New Message Posted!2004-03-08 16:21
The main Roman highway across South Wales was given the title 'Via Julia Maritima' in recognition of the role in its construction of Sextus Julius Frontinus, governor of Britain, and commander of the three legions which invaded Wales AD 74-78.
We may never discover its Roman name, but coincidentally, it does pass very close to the site of Kenfig's huge rectangular Outer Bailey.
The hillfort mentioned, Mynydd Y Castell, on Margam mountain, overlooking Kenfig, would have become redundant at a very early stage of this invasion. It does however show evidence of later rebuilding and strengthening in the form of a brick tower base, and this could date to the anarchy which prevailed after the Romans left Britain in the 4th - 5th Centuries AD.
Thanks for the interest in Kenfig.
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