© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw
Y Pigwyn is a Roman marching camp located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference BR003. The site occupies ground underlain by Ludlow Rocks, a formation of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone deposited during the Ludlow period. This geological foundation would have presented particular challenges for the construction of the temporary fortification, as the mixed lithology and clay-rich mudstones offer neither stable drainage nor solid bedrock for defensive earthworks.
Marching camps served as temporary bases for Roman military columns on campaign, typically occupied for only a few nights. Such camps followed a standardised rectangular plan with defensive ditches and ramparts, though their precise arrangement varied according to local topography and the size of the force they accommodated. The camp at Y Pigwyn represents one of many such installations constructed during Rome's military operations across Wales.
The survival of earthwork evidence at Y Pigwyn reflects both the scale of Roman military engineering and the resilience of the site's landscape. The underlying Ludlow geology, though challenging for rapid construction, may have contributed to preserving the camp's ground plan where the combination of soil composition and drainage patterns has protected the ditches and banks from complete erosion over nearly two millennia.
Y Pigwyn is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference BR003. View the official record →
Y Pigwyn is a Roman marching camp located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference BR003.
Y Pigwyn dates from the roman period, and is classified as a marching camp. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Y Pigwyn 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 BR003.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Garn Las ring cairn (6.2 km), Garn Las platform cairn (6.4 km), Stone Setting on Waun Llwyd (7.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Y Pigwyn'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.
Y Pigwyn stands on Ludlow Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Ludlow. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.