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A Third-century Maritime Establishment at Cold Knap, Barry, South Glamorgan*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2011

Edith Evans
Affiliation:
Glamorgan/Gwent Archaeological Trust
G. Dowdell
Affiliation:
Glamorgan/Gwent Archaeological Trust
H. J. Thomas
Affiliation:
Glamorgan/Gwent Archaeological Trust

Extract

In 1960 during construction work for the Water's Edge Hotel, Cold Knap, Barry, the remains of a Roman building were revealed. It was not possible to excavate, but one of the authors (HJT) was able to carry out a watching brief during the demolition. From the remains visible at the time, it was believed to be a free-standing building of approximately square plan, and, since human remains had been recorded from close at hand in 1866, it was tentatively identified as a mausoleum.

Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 16 , November 1985 , pp. 57 - 125
Copyright
Copyright © Edith Evans, G. Dowdell and H. J. Thomas 1985. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

1 RCAHM Glamorgan vol. 1 part 2, 120Google Scholar; JRS li (1961), 158.Google Scholar

2 Information from Messrs S. A. Luen and Jack Stephens.

3 Glamorgan County History vol. 1, 129; 245.Google Scholar

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5 Glamorgan Record Office D/DF vol. 40 ‘Penmark, Fonmon and Barry manors Court Books 1569–1615’.

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9 A sample was taken of this material but it was unfortunately destroyed by fire before any analysis could determine how it was related to the mortars.

10 It is difficult to be sure which tile deposits show signs of this activity as much of the tile was discarded before it had been examined for reworking, but likely contexts are 167, 168, 194, 203, 268.

11 We are indebted to P. M. Barford for some of the suggestions in this section.

12 See Fowler, D., ‘Temporary works, their construction and archaeology’ in Drury, P. J., Structural Reconstruction BAR 110(1982), 125.Google Scholar

13 Iolo Morgangwg MSS in National Library of Wales MS 13, 117E p. 52 under ‘Glamorgan Topography’ names Bullcliff together with St. Athan, Ysgwrgar and Newton as noted oyster beds. A newspaper article in Barry Dock News November 1st 1912 by D. T. Alexander mentions a fleet of ships from Oystermouth fishing for oysters in the 1880's in Porthkerry Bay.

14 See Williams, J. H., ‘Roman Building Materials in the South WestTrans. Bristol Gloucs. Arch. Soc. xc (1971), 95119.Google Scholar

15 Kindly identified by Dr S. Shackly of the Department of Oceanography, University College of Swansea.

16 Mr S. Luen of Barry has described how, as a boy c. 1900, he watched labourers descend the rock flats when the tide was out, break off the stone with iron bars and wedges and pile it in a great cairn with a pole stuck in the top as a sea marker. A sloop would come in with the tide and drop anchor; the assembled stones would be thrown in the hold at low tide and the sloop be floated off with the next high tide. See also Glam. Record Office, Fonmon MSS1/183 ‘Lease of limestones and building stones 1774’, and NLW MS 13 115B pp. 312–14.

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18 Dr R. M. Owens of the National Museum of Wales suggests the Bath area as a possible source.

19 Information from Dr R. M. Owens.

20 A fragment of ancient woodland still survives in Birth Grove Wood, less than 0·5 km from the site.

21 Information from the masons of S. Glamorgan Building Maintenance Section employed on the reconsolidation of the building.

22 Thresholds are rare in Britain, but such arrangements are well-known in places with better preserved Roman remains e.g. Pompeii.

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31 Where lengths are given in feet, pedes Monetales are used.

32 For the use of proportion as the basis of plan design see Vitruvius esp. III, 1; V introduction and VI, 3, 3–6.

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35 Or 2·17 m above the cellar floor. It is perhaps worth noting in this context that the level of the Deep Room at Lullingstone was about 2·4 m lower than the neighbouring room with the Bellerophon mosaic (Arch. Cant. (1952)Google Scholar, fig. 18). At Verulamium the cellar in XXII 2 is 2·9 m below ground level Ant. Journ. xxxvi (1956), 2.Google Scholar

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39 For the purpose of the reconstruction drawing (FIG. 6), the column diameter has been taken as 0·375 m (with 3·75 mm/I½ʺ layer of rendering) and the height as 7 diameters of the full-length columns. The miniature columns (in FIG. 8) have been shown with a height of 4 · 5 diameters loc. cit., 140–2.

40 Traditional post-medieval rubble construction in this area allows 2ʹ for load-bearing walls and 1½ʹ for non-load-bearing walls (pers. com. A. Tomlinson).

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43 Rickman, G., Roman Granaries and Store Buildings (Cambridge, 1971). The only warehouse with rooms of similar proportions to the Cold Knap building is the Horrea Epagathiana et Epaphroditiana at Ostia (op. cit., 30–8; esp. 37). The doorways are rather narrow for a warehouse but comparable examples are known op. cit., 79.Google Scholar

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88 The writer is grateful to Mark Robinson (Oxford University Museum) for his help in the identification.