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Medieval House Sites W of Trellech Church is a shrunken medieval village lying west of the parish church in the Vale of Glamorgan. The settlement remains visible as earthworks and platforms marking the footprints of former dwellings, testament to a community that declined and was largely abandoned over centuries. Such shrinkage was characteristic of many Welsh villages from the late medieval period onwards, driven by economic change, population movement and shifting agricultural practice.
The site sits upon Lower Devonian sandstones and conglomerates, interbedded rocks of Early Devonian age that form the underlying geology of this part of Wales. This bedrock would have determined both the land's agricultural potential and the building materials available to medieval inhabitants. The proximity of the settlement to Trellech Church, the parish centre, anchors it within the established ecclesiastical and manorial organisation of medieval Wales.
The earthworks preserve evidence of medieval domestic life in their physical form—platforms where houses once stood, drainage lines, and the spatial arrangement that reflected family holdings and community structure. Protected by Cadw as a scheduled monument, the site contributes significantly to understanding rural settlement patterns in medieval Wales and the processes of village contraction that have shaped the modern landscape.
Medieval House Sites W of Trellech Church is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference MM194. View the official record →
Medieval House Sites W of Trellech Church is a shrunken medieval village lying west of the parish church in the Vale of Glamorgan. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference MM194.
Medieval House Sites W of Trellech Church dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a shrunken medieval village. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Medieval House Sites W of Trellech Church is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is MM194.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Gaer Hill Camp, Penterry (7.8 km), Chepstow Park Wood Cairn (8 km), Wyndcliff Roman Site (8.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Medieval House Sites W of Trellech Church's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Medieval House Sites W of Trellech Church stands on Lower Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.