Cwmcarfan is a Roman fort site in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales, identified through aerial photography as cropmarks in arable fields. It lies in the rolling country between the legionary fortress at Caerleon (Isca) and the auxiliary fort at Usk, in territory associated with the conquest and pacification of the Silures, most likely occupied during the later 1st century AD.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The fort fits into the network of marching camps and auxiliary installations established during the Flavian campaigns to subdue the Silures and consolidate the road system linking Caerleon, Usk, Monmouth (Blestium) and the Wye valley. Its position helps fill a gap in the known military geography of the Monnow–Trothy lowlands.
The site is known almost entirely from aerial reconnaissance, which has revealed the characteristic playing-card outline of ditches typical of an auxiliary fort or possibly a temporary camp; no significant excavation has been published, and dating, garrison and internal layout remain unconfirmed.
Cwmcarfan is a Roman fort site in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales, identified through aerial photography as cropmarks in arable fields. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Cwmcarfan 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 Wonastow (3.9 km), Blestium (6.8 km), Roman Villa at Clearwell Farm (10.2 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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