Explore your local area!

Wales is full of fascinating archaeological sites of all periods, from caves used in the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) to the abandoned structures of the 20th century (think of all those Second World War pillboxes). They are all just crying out to be explored.

To get you started, we are producing a set of information sheets on some great sites from each of the present unitary authorities that cover the former counties of Glamorgan and Gwent, focussing particularly on sites that you can visit freely, or at least get a good look at from public rights of way. We’ve started this in lockdown for Covid-19 so there are a few sites normally open to the public that you may not be able to visit at the moment, but hopefully they will be able to re-open before too long. We’ve included postcodes for sites in built-up areas, but not for sites in the countryside as these can be misleading when satnav tries to send you to the nearest house which might be miles away!

The sites we’ve featured are only a tiny sample of the riches out there waiting for you to discover. Visit our Historic Environment Record (HER) online resource Archwilio to find thousands more. And then let us know which ones you would have chosen!