Church Hill enclosure, Gower

In 2006, Mrs Helen Grove reported to the Trust that she had found Roman pottery and building material in Park Wood near her home on Gower. GGAT staff visited the site and were staggered by the amount of pottery and tile that she had collected (much more than what is known from other Roman sites on Gower). It had all been collected from in and around a small enclosure known as Church Hill.

Following negotiations between Cadw, the Forestry Commission, the Trust and Swansea University, the site was scheduled and an excavation was arranged to find out more about it. These web pages have been created to provide you with information about the Church Hill enclosure excavation and survey project, which we hope you will enjoy.

Survey

Learn more about the Church Hill Survey

Archaeologists working for the Ordnance Survey surveyed the enclosure in 1969 and drew a plan and a section. Modern methods can produce a very detailed plan much more easily.

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Results

Find out what we found

We can now say that there was at least one Roman building at Church Hill, with stone walls and a tiled roof. Far too much money was spent on it for it to be just and ordinary peasant farmstead.

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Excavation

Learn more about the Church Hill excavation

Three trenches were opened up. Trench 1 was dug outside the enclosure, Trench 2 was dug through the bank on the south side of the enclosure and Trench 3 was dug inside the enclosure.

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