Welsh Journals

thereafter each community grew in close association with its particular pit(s) to fill the narrow confines of the valley bottom and lower valley sides. Map regression showed that, initially, these communities were individually conceived and physically separated, and that later infilling between settlements eventually created the almost continuous urban valley sprawl that can be seen today. In this way each individual community evolved in relative 'isolation' in a variety of ways, with numerous and differing functions, giving rise to the individualistic characteristics of the various communities of the Rhondda. The later infilling between communities often took the form of Council estates and other out-of-town developments. In defining character areas, consideration has been given to settlement origins, date, and settlement pattern/layout. Analysis of the way(s) in which a particular settlement originated and developed over time and the reasons behind its development has been included. Settlement type on functional grounds (i.e. does a particular settlement have a residential, commercial, administrative, leisure function/purpose or a particular combination of functions?) is viewed as important in denoting the character of an area. Historic associations with particular industries, industrial developments or concerns, historic characters and events are considered to be of relevance. Urban morphology is important in determining the character of an urban area; potential indicators of character are the built elements, i.e. churches, chapels, commercial premises, police stations, schools, town halls to name but a few, which make up any particular settlement, or more specifically concentrations thereof. Characteristics such as architectural distinctiveness, building types/materials have also been taken into consideration. Richard Roberts Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust (Contracts Division) DESERTED RURAL SETTLEMENTS IN GLAMORGAN AND GWENT The second part of the Cadw-funded survey was undertaken. Visits were made to 166 sites that were already recorded on the Sites and Monuments Record as medieval platform houses, longhouses or long-