Llanfor is a Roman auxiliary fort situated near Bala in Gwynedd (formerly Merionethshire), occupying a strategic position in the upper Dee valley. Discovered through aerial photography in 1976, the site is unusual for its scale: at roughly 3 hectares (with associated annexes), it is substantially larger than typical auxiliary forts in north Wales and may have accommodated a vexillation or mixed garrison. It appears to date to the early Flavian period, likely linked to Agricola's campaigns against the Ordovices in the late 70s AD, with probable limited occupation thereafter.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Llanfor controlled an important east-west route through the Welsh mountains via the Dee valley, connecting forts such as Caer Gai to the west and the Chester hinterland to the east. Its unusual size suggests it served as a campaign base or temporary holding fort during the conquest phase, rather than a long-term garrison post.
The site is known principally from cropmarks revealing the fort, annexes, and possible internal buildings, supplemented by limited geophysical survey and small-scale evaluation; no major excavation has been published. Surface finds and trial work have produced material consistent with a short-lived Flavian occupation, but the internal layout and garrison remain poorly understood.
Llanfor is a Roman auxiliary fort situated near Bala in Gwynedd (formerly Merionethshire), occupying a strategic position in the upper Dee valley. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Llanfor 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 Caer Gai (7.6 km), Tomen y Mur amphitheatre (22.9 km), Tomen y Mur Roman bath house (23 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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