Nidum

Last updated

Remains of the south-east gate entrance to the Roman fort at Nidum Remains of Roman Fort of Nidum (Neath) - geograph.org.uk - 202248.jpg
Remains of the south-east gate entrance to the Roman fort at Nidum
Invisible Square.svg
Mapscaleline.svg
100m
110yds
R
I
V
E
R
N
E
A
T
H
═ ═ ═
═ ═ ═ ╦ ═ ═ ═
Dŵr y Felin
School
Neath Canal
Tennant Canal
▣
▣
NIDUM
ROMAN FORT
Neath Port Talbot UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Nidum
Map of the ramparts of Nidum Roman Auxiliary Fort, overlaid on a map of the Neath Abbey area of Neath, South Wales. [1]

Nidum (or NIDVM) 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 (8 to 6 acres) soon afterwards. It may have been garrisoned by perhaps 500 Auxiliary troops. [2] 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. [3]

Contents

Name and road evidence

The name Nidum was well attested by the 19th century. It is included in the Antonine Itinerary, a Roman period register of forts and distances along various routes around the Roman world. Iter 12 of the Britannia Itineraries, adjusting for errors in the medieval transcriptions, places Nidum 14 miles east of Leucarum (modern day Loughor), and 27 miles west of Bomio (an unknown fort, possibly Cowbridge). Bomio is itself listed as being 28 miles from Isca Augusta (modern day Caerleon). In the west the road is believed to have continued a further 23 miles from Leucarum to Moridunum, the fort and walled town at Carmarthen. [4]

The clear similarity of Nidum and the Welsh Nedd, helped confirm that a Roman Fort must have been built in the Neath area. Often identifiable lines of Roman roads have led straight to fort locations. However no evidence remains of the Roman roads leaving Neath either to the east or west. The routes are presumed to have existed however and are given the RCAHMW numbers 'RR60c' (to the east) and RR60d (to the west). These routes are classed as 'predicted' in the viscinity of Neath, so were no help in locating the fort of Nidum. [5]

To the north-east another unknown route leads to the well-defined Roman road designated RR622. [5] It runs to Y Gaer, (Brecon), via the 'Coelbren Fort' at Banwen, which is 18 kilometres (11 mi) north-east of Nidum. This is one of various Roman roads in Wales traditionally known as the Sarn Helen.

Archaeological evidence

The site was first identified in 1949 during work on the A474 road, which found the south-west gateway. A year later the south-east gateway was also discovered. Various excavations related to school or other building works took place in 1958, 1962, 1984–5 and 2011. [6] Finds recovered from these digs included roof and floor tiles, pieces of a 1st-century amphora, fragments of kitchen- and table-ware ranging in date from the earliest construction phase to the early-2nd century. One or two pieces are from the mid-2nd century. Six coins were also found, ranging from Augustus (Imp. 23B.C. - A.D.14) to Trajan (Imp. A.D.98-117). [2] Some of the artifacts from the site are on permanent exhibition in the Neath Museum. The site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. [7]

Much of the site is in the grounds of Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive School, where a 2011 dig found gate-towers of the earlier gateway, to the north-west of the ramparts of the reduced-sized fort shown on the map. Post-holes indicate that the towers extended out beyond the wall line, unique in Britain for its time, suggesting extreme defensive measures needed to be taken against the hostile Silures. [8]

Visible remains

After the 1949 and 1950 excavation of the two southern gateways the stonework was laid out for display. Two small enclosures now remain, surrounded by iron railings. One stands within the A474 roadside verge, whilst the eastern one occupies a corner of a housing estate, alongside the modern 'Roman Way'. It reveals the bases of the two gate-towers and a 'dual carriageway' between, Also shown is a section of the ditch that surrounded the ramparts, which would have been crossed by a timber bridge. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neath Abbey</span>

Neath Abbey was a Cistercian monastery, located near the present-day town of Neath in South Wales, UK. It was once the largest abbey in Wales. Substantial ruins can still be seen, and are in the care of Cadw. Tudor historian John Leland called Neath Abbey "the fairest abbey of all Wales."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neath</span> Human settlement in Wales

Neath is a market town and community situated in the Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,258 in 2011. Historically in Glamorgan, the town is located on the River Neath, seven miles east-northeast of Swansea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merthyr Mawr</span>

Merthyr Mawr is a village and community in Bridgend, Wales. The village is about 2+1⁄2 miles from the centre of Bridgend town. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 267. The community occupies the area west of the Ewenny River, between Bridgend and Porthcawl. It takes in the settlement of Tythegston and a stretch of coastal sand dunes known as Merthyr Mawr Warren. It is in the historic county of Glamorgan.

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">Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive School</span> Comprehensive school in Neath, West Glamorgan, Wales

Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive School is a comprehensive school in the Cwrt Herbert community of the town of Neath in South Wales, Wales. The school badge shows a watermill and mill stream in reference to the school name, in English 'water of the mill' or 'mill stream'. The badge also uses the acronym DCS to represent Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leucarum</span>

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 at the mouth of the River Loughor 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craig Ty-Isaf</span>

Craig Ty-Isaf is a small hillfort in Baglan community, Neath Port Talbot, in South Wales. It is one of three hillforts on the area of hillside known as Mynydd y Gaer, and is within Briton Ferry Woods. The hillfort is on the SW side of the hill, overlooking Baglan, an oval enclosing some 0.2ha. A broad rubble bank forms the oval enclosure, and on the east two further banks mean that the area of banks and ditches encompasses a much larger area for the site as a whole, which is a Scheduled Monument. There are various internal features thought to be the result of more recent test cuts for mineral extraction.

Foel Chwern is a Round cairn on the edge of the high plateau east of the Neath valley, and near the summit of Craig y Llyn. The headwaters of the River Rhondda are to the south-west. It is a burial monument dating to the Bronze Age, and is sited on the edge of a steep scarp slope, with a wide field of view to the north. The long distance footpath Coed Morgannwg Way runs close by the cairn. Conifer plantations of the Rheola Forest surround the site.

Cwrt Herbert, also sometimes called Court Herbert, is a small community to the east of Neath Abbey in south Wales It developed as a mining village servicing the Cwrt Herbert Colliery in the mid 19th century The colliery closed in 1929 and the village is now predominantly a dormitory for the town of Neath.

References

  1. ↑ Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (1976). Glamorgan Inventory, Vol 1, Part 2: The Iron Age and Roman Occupation. p. 79.
  2. 1 2 roman-britain.co.uk: Nidum
  3. ↑ coflein NPRN: 301350
  4. ↑ Roman Roads Research Association. "The Antonine Itinerary, Iter XII". The Roads of Roman Britain. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  5. 1 2 Sherman, Andy; Evans, Edith (2004). Roman roads in Southeast Wales (PDF) (Report). GGAT report no. 2004/073. Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust/ Cadw.
  6. ↑ Nidum Roman Fort (Neath) (ID PRN00620w) in the ' SMR ' for Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust (GGAT)
  7. ↑ Cadw SAM number GM215: Neath Roman Site
  8. ↑ Nidum Roman dig in playing fields BBC Wales, 21 February 2011
  9. ↑ South East Gate of Neath Roman Fort (ID PRN01804w) in the ' SMR ' for Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust (GGAT)

51°39′54″N3°48′50″W / 51.665°N 3.814°W / 51.665; -3.814


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.