Clyro was a large Roman auxiliary fort, possibly a vexillation fortress, located on the north bank of the River Wye opposite Hay-on-Wye in Powys. At around 10–11 hectares (c. 26 acres), it is substantially larger than a standard auxiliary fort, suggesting it housed a mixed legionary detachment and auxiliaries during the Neronian to early Flavian period (c. AD 55–75), as part of the campaigns against the Silures and Ordovices.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Clyro held a strategic position controlling the middle Wye valley, a key east-west routeway into central Wales, and likely functioned as a forward base during the conquest of the Welsh tribes before being superseded by the consolidation of the frontier under Frontinus and Agricola. Its scale places it among the more important pre-Flavian military installations in the Welsh Marches, comparable in role to Usk (Burrium) and Clifford.
The site was identified from aerial photography and limited excavation in the 1960s by Frere and others, which confirmed defensive ditches, rampart traces, and recovered pre-Flavian pottery and military fittings consistent with a short occupation. No substantial internal buildings have been extensively excavated, and the site remains relatively poorly understood compared with other forts of its class.
Clyro was a large Roman auxiliary fort, possibly a vexillation fortress, located on the north bank of the River Wye opposite Hay-on-Wye in Powys. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Clyro is classified as a Roman fort — a military site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Three Cocks Roman fort (8.4 km), Colwyn (16 km), Hindwell Farm (17.4 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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