Welsh Journals

Several trenches were also examined which extended southward from the Old Hall towards the town wall. At a point about 150 ft. away from the Old Hall natural clay occurred 3 ft. below the surface, overlaid by a black soil layer (? garden soil), containing mostly post medieval sherds, but also a few scraps of Roman grey ware and samian. About 250 ft. away the natural clay lay only 1 ft. below the surface and no sherds were present. It is clear, therefore, that traces of Roman occupation in this area lay in greatest concentration close to the south side of High Street, actually underlying the Old Hall, and that evidence of occupation gradually peters out towards the south, eventually becoming non-existent in the vicinity of the town wall. Finds of Roman material at Cowbridge have previously been made. They include coins from the period of Trajan to Constantine, bricks, and a bronze fibula. The distribution of these finds indicates a considerable Roman settlement within the confines of the medieval town wall, extending for a distance (between sites A and C) of about 800 ft. along the line of the main street. The pottery, when con- sidered with the coin evidence, suggests a lengthy occupation from the late first to the fourth century A.D. H. J. Thomas and H. Brooksby MEDIEVAL PERIOD Loughor Castle 1973 saw the last of four seasons of excavation at Loughor Castle organised under the aegis of the Department of the Environment. Since the discovery in the first season (1969) that the castle was located above the south-east corner of the Roman fort,1 the investi- gation of the fort and castle have proceeded independently, excavation in the castle area having the sole object of investigating the building history of the castle, and stopping short of the underlying Roman horizon. A fairly detailed picture of its development has been built up. 1 Gower Journal, xx (1969), 89-92.