Leucarum

Last updated

Leucarum
Invisible Square.svg
Invisible Square.svg
Mapscaleline.svg
100m
110yds
Leucarum Fort, at Loughor.
Period VII to VIII defences
Period I to VI defences
Pre-1988 bridge
Red pog.svg
Bath-house site
RIVER
LOUGHOR
Red pog.svg
St Michael's
Church
Map showing Loughor with the position of the Roman auxiliary fort of Leucarum [1] [2]

Leucarum was a coastal auxiliary fort in the Roman province of Britannia. Its remains are located beneath the town of Loughor in the Welsh city of Swansea. The Romans built a rectangular or trapezoidal fort of some 2 hectares (4.9 acres) at the mouth of the River Loughor (Afon Llychwr) in the AD70s as a garrison for Roman auxiliary troops. From initial Archaeological discoveries in the mid-19th century, through to major excavations during the 1980s, the fort is now well-documented as one of a number of such forts along the South Wales coast.

Contents

Construction and use

Early construction, from around AD73, was mostly in timber with earth banks, but successive rebuilds of both defenses and internal buildings in stone defences indicate some 50 years of intermittent use perhaps due to unrest or uneasy occupation until around AD120. [3] It was subsequently abandoned for a time and by the early 3rd century the ditch had naturally silted up. It appears to have been more actively renovated (with a reduction in size at the western end) and put back into use by the later 3rd century, including the period when Carausius declared himself emperor in Britain and northern Gaul (Imperium Britanniarum). It was abandoned again by the Romans by the 330s, this time for good. [3] A Norman castle was later built in one corner of the fort. A medieval Church occupied a prominent position in the centre of the fort area, which was rebuilt on the same foundations in 1885. [4]

Antonine Itinerary

The only early documented use of the name 'Leucarum' occurs in the Antonine Itinerary, which has lists of distances and destinations along roads of the Roman Empire. The lists however are ambiguous or confusing in places, and it requires some adjustments to equate Leucarum with Loughor (Welsh: Llwchwr), but the strong name similarities meant it was assumed to be so even in 1695, and subsequent discoveries of a substantial Roman occupation have left little room for doubt. [5]

Archaeology

The earliest archaeological evidence of Roman occupation came in 1851, when railway and station works came across a Roman bath-house. Other small finds had sustained the idea that Romans had occupied the area, but early Ordnance Survey maps had speculatively located the fort to an area 200m to the north-east. In 1969, during an excavation of the Castle mound, it was found to be built against (and cut into) the Roman walls. [1] This and other small-scale excavations established the wall-line along three sides, but it was only when 1980s investigations ahaed of a new road layout revealed not one but two separate western ramparts that a fuller picture was established. A new route for the A484, leading to the 1988-built [6] Loughor road bridge across the Loughor Estuary required extensive salvage archaeology by the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust, and resulted in 'one of the most comprehensive investigations of an auxiliary fort in Wales in recent years'. [7]

The 1997 report, following the two multi-season digs of the 1980s, concluded that there were 8 distinct phases of use/activity at the fort site. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danebury</span> Iron Age hillfort in Hampshire, England

Danebury is an Iron Age hillfort in Hampshire, England, about 19 kilometres (12 mi) north-west of Winchester. The site, covering 5 hectares, was excavated by Barry Cunliffe in the 1970s. Danebury is considered a type-site for hill forts, and was important in developing the understanding of hillforts, as very few others have been so intensively excavated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loughor</span> Town in Swansea, Wales

Loughor is a town in Swansea, Wales. Historically in Glamorgan, it lies on the estuary of the River Loughor. The town has a community council under the name Llwchwr. The town is bordered by the communities of Bynea in Carmarthenshire, Grovesend, Gowerton, and Gorseinon. Loughor is part of the built-up area of Gorseinon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lunt Roman Fort</span> British archaeological site

The Lunt Roman Fort is the archaeological site of a Roman fort, of unknown name, in the Roman province of Britannia. It is open to the public and located in the village of Baginton on the south eastern outskirts of Coventry. The fort has now been fully excavated and partially reconstructed; the wooden gateway rebuild was led by archaeologist Margaret Rylatt, using the same tools and techniques that the military engineers of the Roman Army would have used. In 2001, Anglo Saxon artefacts dating to Sub-Roman Britain were discovered on the site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardknott Roman Fort</span> Archeological site in Cumbria, England

Hardknott Roman Fort is an archeological site, the remains of the Roman fort Mediobogdum, located on the western side of the challenging Hardknott Pass in the English Lake District. The fort was built between 120 and 138 on a rocky spur, and was initially garrisoned by a detachment of the Cohors IV Delmatarum from the Dalmatian coast. It was abandoned around a decade later, then reoccupied circa 200 and remained in use for much of the next two centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banna (Birdoswald)</span>

Birdoswald Roman Fort was known as Banna in Roman times, reflecting the geography of the site on a triangular spur of land bounded by cliffs to the south and east commanding a broad meander of the River Irthing in Cumbria below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mamucium</span> Former Roman fort in the Castlefield area of Manchester in North West England

Mamucium, also known as Mancunium, is a former Roman fort in the Castlefield area of Manchester in North West England. The castrum, which was founded c. AD 79 within the Roman province of Roman Britain, was garrisoned by a cohort of Roman auxiliaries near two major Roman roads running through the area. Several sizeable civilian settlements containing soldiers' families, merchants and industry developed outside the fort. The area is a protected Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Banwen is a small village in Neath Port Talbot county borough (NPT) in Wales. Banwen is part of the community of Onllwyn along with the village of Onllwyn itself and the adjacent parish of Dyffryn Cellwen. Banwen is in the Upper Dulais Valley, with views over the southern slopes of the Brecon Beacons. Banwen consists of a single street named Roman Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambleside Roman Fort</span> Roman fort in Cumbria, United Kingdom

Ambleside Roman Fort is the modern name given to the remains of a fort of the Roman province of Britannia. The ruins have been tentatively identified as those of either Galava or Clanoventa, mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary. Dating to the 1st or 2nd century AD, its ruins are located on the northern shore of Windermere at Waterhead, near Ambleside, in the English county of Cumbria, within the boundaries of the Lake District National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nidum</span> Roman camp at Neath, Wales

Nidum is a Roman fort found in Cwrt Herbert near the town of Neath, in Wales. An Auxiliary fort first built in around 74AD from earth banks and wooden structures, it underwent a reduction in size from 3.3 to 2.3 hectares soon afterwards. It may have been garrisoned by perhaps 500 Auxiliary troops. It was abandoned in around 125AD, but re-occupied around 140AD when it was rebuilt in stone. However it was only occupied until 170AD, with 100 years of disuse before a final period in use from AD 275 and 320.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castleshaw Roman Fort</span> Roman camp in Greater Manchester, England

Castleshaw Roman fort was a castellum in the Roman province of Britannia. Although there is no evidence to substantiate the claim, it has been suggested that Castleshaw Roman fort is the site of Rigodunum, a Brigantian settlement. The remains of the fort are located on Castle Hill on the eastern side of Castleshaw Valley at the foot of Standedge but overlooking the valley. The hill is on the edge of Castleshaw in Greater Manchester. The fort was constructed in c. AD 79, but fell out of use at some time during the 90s. It was replaced by a smaller fortlet, built in c. 105, around which a civilian settlement grew. It may have served as a logistical and administrative centre, although it was abandoned in the 120s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isca Augusta</span> Former Roman site in Caerleon, Wales

Isca, variously specified as Isca Augusta or Isca Silurum, was the site of a Roman legionary fortress and settlement or vicus, the remains of which lie beneath parts of the present-day suburban town of Caerleon in the north of the city of Newport in South Wales. The site includes Caerleon Amphitheatre and is protected by Cadw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bremetennacum</span> Ruins of a Roman fort in Ribchester, England

Bremetennacum,, or Bremetennacum Veteranorum, was a Roman fort on the site of the present day village of Ribchester in Lancashire, England. The site is a Scheduled Monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vindomora</span> Roman auxiliary fort in County Durham, England

Vindomora was an auxiliary fort on Dere Street, in the province of Lower Britain. Its ruins, now known as Ebchester Roman Fort, are situated at Ebchester in the English county of Durham, to the north of Consett and 12 miles (19 km) west-south-west from Newcastle upon Tyne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petriana</span> Roman fort in Cumbria, England

Uxelodunum was a Roman fort with associated civilian settlement (vicus) in modern-day Carlisle, Cumbria, England. It was the largest fort on Hadrian's Wall and is now buried beneath the suburb of Stanwix.

Penydarren is a community and electoral ward in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths</span> Archaeological museum in Newport, Wales

Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths encompass the archaeological ruins and sites of the Legionary Fortress of Isca Augusta spread across the town of Caerleon, near the city of Newport, South Wales. Notable for being one of only three permanent legionary fortresses from Roman Britain, Caerleon has provided a unique opportunity to study the archaeology of a Roman Legionary fortress, less affected by the medieval and subsequent urban activity of most such fortresses. Having attracted the attention of eminent archaeologists throughout the 20th century it now has four major public archaeological venues, including the museum run by Cadw, called 'Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths', featuring the excavated fortress bath-house. Also open to the public is the most complete excavated amphitheatre in Britain, a series of barracks and the National Roman Legion Museum. The fortress and its surrounding civil settlement have been the subject of continuing major archaeological investigations into the 21st century.

Trawscoed fort is a Roman auxiliary fort in Ceredigion, Wales, located near the modern settlement of Trawsgoed and is cut through by the modern B4340 road. It was first built in the 70s AD. and was occupied until around 130 AD, housing up to 800 infantry in rows of barracks within the 2.1 hectares banked enclosure. At its height it could have had a total population of around 2,000 people living at the fort and its extramural vicus. It overlooks the Roman bridge over the River Ystwyth, which is where the road from Pen-Ilwyn to Llanio crosses. In 1959, this site was initially identified via aerial photography revealing a series of parchmarks covering an area of around 20,000 square metres (2 ha). Later explorations increased the knowledge of this site.

Hillforts in Britain refers to the various hillforts within the island of Great Britain. Although the earliest such constructs fitting this description come from the Neolithic British Isles, with a few also dating to later Bronze Age Britain, British hillforts were primarily constructed during the British Iron Age. Some of these were apparently abandoned in the southern areas that were a part of Roman Britain, although at the same time, those areas of northern Britain that remained free from Roman occupation saw an increase in their construction. Some hillforts were reused in the Early Middle Ages, and in some rarer cases, into the Later Medieval period as well. By the early modern period, these had essentially all been abandoned, with many being excavated by archaeologists in the nineteenth century onward.

Praetorium Agrippinae was a Roman settlement in the province of Lower Germania, in the area of the Cananefates, located in modern-day Valkenburg, Netherlands. It was an army encampment on the Old Rhine, on the northern border of the Roman Empire, the limes. Praetorium Agrippinae is mentioned on the Tabula Peutingeriana between the castella of Matilo in the east and Lugdunum Batavorum to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carpow Roman Fort</span>

The Roman Fort of Carpow was situated at the confluence of the rivers Tay and Earn in what is now Scotland.

References

  1. 1 2 Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (1976). Glamorgan Inventory, Vol 1, Part 2: The Iron Age and Roman Occupation. p. 87.
  2. Owen-John & Marvell 1997, p. 14.
  3. 1 2 Owen-John & Marvell 1997, p. 228.
  4. St Michael's Church, Loughor (ID NPRN13509) . at the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW)
  5. Owen-John & Marvell 1997, p. 10.
  6. Client List - Roads / Bridgeworks / Civils (PDF). R Betts Construction (Report). Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  7. Owen-John, Henry; Marvell, A G (1997). Leucarum: Excavations at the Roman Auxiliary Fort at Loughor, West Glamorgan 1982-84 and 1987-88. Britannia Monograph Series. Vol. 12. Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies. p. 1. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  8. Owen-John & Marvell 1997, p. 206.

51°39′43″N4°04′37″W / 51.662°N 4.077°W / 51.662; -4.077