Cardiff Roman Fort was a coastal fort in the Roman province of Britannia Superior, of which Roman Wales was a part. Its original Latin name is uncertain. Its remains are incorporated into Cardiff Castle in the modern capital city of Wales.
The fort's name is uncertain. It could have been Tamium as appears in the Ravenna Cosmography, although this may have been a river name and thus refers to the River Taff. Alternatively it may be Bovium (corrected from Bomio) of the Antonine Itinerary.
Prior to the building of the extant fort, there were at least two previous Roman forts on the site. The first was probably a vexillation camp built during attempted conquest of the Silures tribe around AD 55. About twenty years later, after a period of abandonment, a new smaller Roman auxiliary fort was constructed and was possibly occupied, along with a civilian vicus, until the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. From the late 2nd to the mid-3rd century, civilian timber buildings associated with iron working occupied the site.
Around 290, a 9-acre (3.57 hectare) shore fort was built on the site, not unlike the almost complete example at Portchester in Hampshire. Its walls were ten feet thick and it was positioned to control access to the upper reaches of the River Severn. There may have been associated watch towers on the now eroded cliffs to the west. This is believed to have been the Emperor Carausius' response to increased Irish raids. Its military/naval force eventually moved elsewhere about 370.
The ruinous fort appears as the residence of 'King Ynwyl' in the story of Geraint and Enid, a medieval romance associated with the Mabinogion. Geraint was possibly a late 5th-century King of Dumnonia.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Cardiff Roman Fort was a coastal fort in the Roman province of Britannia Superior, of which Roman Wales was a part. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Tamion? 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 Ely Roman Villa (3.4 km), Llandough (4 km), Caerphilly Roman fort (11 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
Aubrey Research generates detailed historical reports for any location in Britain, incorporating Roman heritage, Domesday Book records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and much more. Enter a nearby address to begin.
This page covers the Roman site at Tamion?. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this site alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain, drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Tamion?