New Breach Farm,

Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan

Archaeological watching brief

November 2008
GGAT report no. 2008/056
Project no.P1269
Prepared for Mr Andrew Thomas National Grid Reference:
by Rob Dunning BSc SS 9750 7328

GG GI
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RAO No.15

The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd

Heathfield House Heathfield Swansea SA1 6EL
Contents Page
Summary ........................................................................................................................ 2
Acknowledgements......................................................................................................... 2
Copyright notice............................................................................................................. 2
1. Introduction.......................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Project background ........................................................................................ 3
1.2 Location, topography and geology ................................................................ 3
1.3 General archaeological background............................................................... 5
1.4 Site specific archaeological background........................................................ 6
2. Methodology ......................................................................................................... 7
3. Results ................................................................................................................... 8
4. Conclusions......................................................................................................... 11
Bibliography ............................................................................................................... 12
Appendix I .................................................................................................................. 13
Inventory of contexts ............................................................................................... 13

Figures
Figure 1: Location of development area ....................................................................... 4
Figure 2: Location of Trenches 1 and 2 (red) ............................................................. 10

Plates
Plate 1: View of Trench 1, looking southeast ............................................................... 8
Plate 2: View of Trench 2, looking southeast ............................................................... 9

Front cover: View of the existing farmhouse, looking southeast © GGAT

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 New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

Summary
GGAT Projects undertook a watching brief during excavations for the renovation and
extension of an existing farm house, as well as the construction of a garage at New
Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan (App No 2008/00583/FUL). No
archaeologically significant features or structures were encountered during the
course of the watching brief, and the only deposits uncovered were post-medieval or
modern in date. Similarly all the recovered cultural material was of a post-medieval
or modern date.

Acknowledgements
The project was managed by Richard Lewis BA MIFA and the fieldwork was
undertaken by Rob Dunning BSc of GGAT Projects. The finds were processed and
analysed by Steve Sell BA of GGAT Projects. The report and illustrations were
compiled by Rob Dunning.
Archaeological background is based on Primary Record Number (PRN) information
supplied by the Historic Environment Record (HER) held at GGAT, Swansea.

Copyright notice
The copyright of this report is held by the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
Ltd, which has granted an exclusive licence to Mr Andrew Thomas and his agents to
use and reproduce material it contains.

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 New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

1. Introduction
1.1 Project background
Planning consent has been granted for the renovation and extension of an existing
farm house, as well as the construction of a garage at New Breach Farm, Cowbridge,
Vale of Glamorgan (App No 2008/00583/FUL).
One of the conditions (No. 7) of the planning consent states that ‘the developer shall
ensure that a suitably qualified archaeologist is present during the undertaking of any
ground disturbing works in the development area, so that an archaeological watching
brief can be conducted.’ The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd (GGAT
Projects) was commissioned by Mr Andrew Thomas to undertake the work, which
took place on the 13th of August 2008.

1.2 Location, topography and geology

New Breach Farm is situated approximately 2km to the southeast of Cowbridge at
NGR SS 9750 7328. The farm lies on land that gently slopes to the south, with the
current development being located to the east of the main farm buildings. Cowbridge
itself is situated on a glacial terrace of sands and gravels. However, the surrounding
area is composed of Jurassic lias with carboniferous limestone outcroppings, with the
resultant soils being mostly brown earths (Robinson 1980).

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 New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

0 2km

Based on the 1999 Ordnance Survey 1:25000 Explorer 165 map with the permission of
The Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, © Crown Copyright, Glamorgan-
Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd, Licence number Al10005976

Figure 1: Location of development area (red)

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 New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

1.3 General archaeological background

The area of Cowbridge was first occupied during the Roman period, and is likely the
site of Bomium of the Antonine Itinerary lying on the coastal road from Caerleon to
Carmarthen (Margary 1957, 58). The evidence suggests that the site has been
occupied from the 1st century through to the 4th century AD, and whilst such an early
settlement is likely to be military in nature, little evidence for such structures have
been discovered. However, finds from a bath house at Arthur John car park included
tiles bearing the stamp LEG II AUG, which suggests a link with the legionary fortress
at Caerleon, (Evans 1996) even if it was no more than the use of soldiers to construct
an official building (Evans 2000, 491). The settlement took the form of a ribbon
development along the Cardiff-Neath road, with a likely cemetery at the western end,
as indicated by the discovery of the ‘Cowbridge Lion’, a piece of funerary sculpture
from Hopyard Meadow, now in the National Museum, Cardiff.
Cowbridge itself was founded as a planned town in the middle of the 13th century by
Richard de Clare, although it has been suggested that an established settlement may
have already been in place prior to the granting of the charter in 1254. The medieval
town can be divided into three separate areas of burgage plots; the walled town centre
and the two undefended ‘suburbs’ of Eastgate and Westgate (Robinson 1980). No
castle was constructed at Cowbridge as it was defended by the nearby Llanblethian
Castle, but the town serviced de Clare’s manor at Boverton and his demesne lordships
of Llanblethian and Talyfan.
The town began to prosper, being ideally situated in fertile farmland and along the
still important transportation line of the Roman road. Such prosperity is reflected in
the increase in number of burgages from 59 in 1262, to 233 in 1295 and 276 in 1306,
making it the fifth largest town in South Wales. With the aid of numerous charters
which exempted Cowbridge from many of the Crown taxes, the number of burgages
had risen to 320 in 1425. However, a slow decline began at this period and this can
be seen in the decrease in revenue for the town from £17 15s. 11d. in 1427 to £5 18s.
6d. in 1457. By 1514 it had plummeted to £2 3s. 2d. The decline in the fortunes of
the town seems to have been halted and indeed reversed after the Acts of Union
(1536-43). Cowbridge was recognised as a borough and enjoyed its own Member of
Parliament, and by 1543 the revenue had recovered to £9 10s (Appleton-Fox 1999).
The town seems to have been remarkably static during the late post-medieval period,
indeed both the Cowbridge Tithe map of 1841 and the 1st edition OS map of 1878
reveal that Cowbridge had an almost identical settlement pattern to that of the
medieval period (Robinson 1980); the greater part of habitation was still concentrated
in the town centre and Eastgate (now known as East Village). The tithe maps for
Penlline and Llanbethian parishes show that the surrounding landscape was almost
entirely agricultural in nature. Land ownership was divided between small farmers
and large estates, with land usages being dominated by pasture and meadow, but with
some arable fields. Indeed, it is not until the 20th century that the burgages become
fully urbanised.

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 New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

1.4 Site specific archaeological background

New Breach Farm is located within a triangle of prehistoric round barrows designated
as Scheduled Ancient Monuments, located to the northwest (03809s/307600/GM104),
the southeast (00306s/307605/GM292), and to the west of the farm at Nash Manor
(00309s/275857/GM106). There are also a number of earthwork features indicative
of prehistoric occupation in the area, such as a semi-circular bank and ditch (01021s)
and a small ringwork (02524s). Furthermore, the location of the proposed
development in the valley bottom is one where it is possible that an undefended
prehistoric settlement associated with such sites may be located. Whilst there is no
evidence for the existence of the current farm on the 1st edition OS map of 1878, the
2nd edition OS map of 1899, or the 3rd edition OS map of 1919, they indicate the
presence of a quarry and limekilns, as well as several small buildings that may be the
precursor of the modern farm.

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 New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

2. Methodology
The intrusive groundworks monitored by the archaeological watching brief (see
Figure 2) consisted of two trenches (1 and 2), excavated for the laying of foundations.
A full written, drawn and photographic record was made of all archaeological
deposits, in accordance with the GGAT Manual of Excavation Recording Techniques.
Contexts were recorded using a single continuous numbering system, and are
summarised in Appendix I. All significant contexts were photographed using a Nikon
Coolpix 4500 digital camera.
Should no further work be required, the site archive will be prepared according to the
specifications in Management of Archaeological Projects (English Heritage 1991)
Appendix 6.
The site archive (including artefacts and ecofacts) will be deposited with an
appropriate receiving organisation, in accordance with the UKIC and IFA Guidelines
(Archaeological Archives: a guide to best practice in creation, compilation, transfer
and curation (2007), and subject to the agreement of the legal landowner. A copy of
the archive index will be deposited with the National Monuments Record,
RCAHMW, Aberystwyth.
After an appropriate period has elapsed, copies of the report and archive index will be
deposited with the Historic Environment Record (HER) and National Monuments
Record (NMR).

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 New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

3. Results

Trenches 1 and 2 both exhibited identical stratigraphies, with the basal deposit being a
white-grey limestone bedrock (1003) with a minimum depth of 0.08m. This underlay
a mid brown–orange clay (1002), containing frequent angular and sub-angular stones
(less than 0.16m in diameter). This was overlain by a brown-grey clay loam topsoil
(1001), which contained occasional rounded and sub-rounded stones (less than 0.02m
in diameter).

Plate 1: View of Trench 1, looking southeast

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New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

Plate 2: View of Trench 2, looking southeast

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 New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

Silos

Quarry (disused)

New Breach Farm

Trench 2 Trench 1

0 50m

Figure 2: Location of Trenches 1 and 2 (red)

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 New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

4. Conclusions

Both trenches revealed identical stratigraphies of a topsoil (1001) overlaying natural

clay (1002) and bedrock (1003). All the recovered cultural material was of a post-
medieval or modern date, and no archaeologically significant features, deposits or
structures were encountered during the course of the observed groundworks.

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 New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

Bibliography
Appleton-Fox N, 1999, The Town Walls, Cowbridge: a report on a desk-based
assessment, Marches Archaeology 057
Evans E M, 1996, Bear Field, in Parkhouse J and Evans E (eds.), Excavations in
Cowbridge, South Glamorgan 1977-88, BAR British Series 245
Evans E M, 2000, The Caerleon canabae: excavations in the civil settlement 1984-90,
Britannia Monograph 16
Margary I D, 1957, Roman Roads in Britain, vol 2, London
Robinson D M, 1980, Cowbridge: the archaeology and topography of a small market
town in the Vale of Glamorgan, GGAT Town Survey No. 1

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 New Breach Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan: archaeological watching brief

Appendix I
Inventory of contexts:

Context Type Max Depth (m) Description Period

1001 D 0m-0.14m Brown-grey clay loam topsoil with occasional Modern
sub-rounded and rounded stones (<0.02m in
diameter)
1002 D 0.14m-0.36m Mid brown-orange clay with frequent sub- Natural
angular and angular stones (<0.16m in diameter)
1003 D 0.36m-0.44m Limestone bedrock Natural
n.b.

Key:
D: Deposit
n.b.: not bottomed

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