Author Archives: ollydavis

Pupils from Glyn Derw High School worked with Paul Evans, CHP lead artist, on the restoration of The CAER Heritage Project mural. The mural had been quite heavily ‘tagged’ since it was originally created from designs developed with a group of young people from Pethybridge Youth Centre – and we wanted the mural restored toContinue reading “CAER Project Mural Restored”

Excavation Finds Officer Johanna blogs about how we look after the finds from the dig… My name is Johanna and I am one of the finds officers at the current excavation of Caerau Hillfort. Being a finds officers means I don’t do a lot of digging, but I take care of anything the archaeologists findContinue reading “Conserving the finds from Caerau”

Cardiff University’s Exploring the Past Student Midnight blogs about her first day on site… I’m filled with excitement as we drive through a red brick housing estate and find the semi-hidden track leading to the top of Caerau hill at our first attempt. I’ve never been on an Archaeological excavation before, my only relevant experienceContinue reading “My first experiences of digging at Caerau Hillfort”

CAER Heritage Project’s Olly Davis blogs about the first week on site… What a week – lots of sunshine, lots of sun-burn and lots of archaeology! We started opening up the site on Monday with a JCB to help us strip off the topsoil – there’s about 30-40 cm of ploughsoil on Caerau Hillfort thatContinue reading “Digging Caerau Hillfort – Week 1”

Neath Castle – substantial stone works remains of this castle in the town centre of Neath.  A stone sign marks the site of a Roman fort (Nidum) built in 75AD to watch over the river Nedd. In the late 12th century Robert FitzRoy, Earl of Glouchester and lord of Glamorgan established his own fortress, NeathContinue reading “Jeff’s Blog – My visit to Neath Castle and Neath Abbey”

Today I visited a lovely place called Old Beaupre Castle, in the Vale of Glamorgan. Substantial remains of a castle largely built in 14th to 16th centuries. Once owned by the Mansels and later on the Bassets. Richard Basset supported King Charles 1st during the English Civil War. After the kings defeat he was forcedContinue reading “Jeff’s History Blog – My visit to Old Beaupre Castle”

On this trip I decided to check out Llancarfan first. This is a quiet little village set in the middle of rolling green hills of the country side – first stop is the village church, St Cadoc. This church dated back to 1190. This church has a battlement tower, with a gold stag lighting conductor,Continue reading “Jeff’s History Blog – My trip to Llancarfan and Penmark”

To try to encourage people to come and discover Caerau Hillfort for themselves, a group of keen local residents have helped to clear the overgrown vegetation on the right-of-way into the southern entrance of the hillfort from Cwrt-yr-Ala Road, as part of the Pathway to the Past HLF All Our Stories initiative coordinated by CAERContinue reading “Opening up the Pathway to the Past!”

First visit to St Andrews Major church – I’m very impressed with the place, nice surroundings in a small peaceful village. The high west tower with a corbelled parapet and a south door way, the porch and wide north aisle all date from remodelling of 1480-1520. The nave and chancel are maybe 13th century andContinue reading “Jeff’s History Blog – My trip to St Andrews Major”

Done a 7 mile trip to this village on bike and on approach I found a stunning place a church, St Illyds, and 16th century manor house in a quiet countryside setting. Brief history – the manor house Llantrithyd Place was built by John Bassett in the early part of the 16th century. The ruinsContinue reading “Jeff’s History Blog – My trip to Llantrithyd village”