Welsh Journals

THE EXCAVATION OF THE TIMBER CIRCLE AND HORSESHOE-SHAPED ENCLOSURE AT SARN-Y-BRYN-CALED, NEAR WELSHPOOL, POWYS: AN INTERIM REPORT ALEX GIBSON' INTRODUCTION The sites described in this interim report form part of a complex of late neolithic to early bronze age ritual monuments in the fields adjacent to the row of cottages known as Sarn-y- bryn-caled near the junction of the A483 and the A490 about 2 km to the south of Welshpool (SJ 210051). The complex was first identified from the air by Dr J. K. St Joseph of Cambridge University in 1975 (fig. 1; St Joseph 1980). Further details of a number of the sites have been recorded by aerial reconnaissance since carried out by Chris Musson on behalf of the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust. The complex lies on a gravel terrace slightly above the floodplain of the broad valley of the River Severn. Most of the sites have only been seen as parch marks during periods of summer drought. The complex includes a variety of monuments that are typical of the neolithic to early bronze age periods, about 5000-4000 years ago, extending over a distance of c 1 km along the valley. They include a cursus monument (a long rectilinear ditched enclosure), five ring-ditches, a pit circle, and a small horseshoe-shaped enclosure. The cursus, c 12 m wide and c 380 m long, is represented by two parallel ditches aligned NE to SW. There is clear evidence of a number of causeways across the line of the side ditches and both ends of the enclosure appear to be closed by ditches. The ring-ditches vary in size from between 10-35 m in diameter and appear to represent ploughed-down round barrows of neolithic to early bronze age date of types excavated at Four Crosses about 15 km to the north (Warrilow et al. 1986), for example. The pit circle appears on air photographs as a circle of twenty pits c 18 m in diameter with a large central feature. The horseshoe-shaped enclosure to the south of the circle appeared to be about 8 m in diameter. The sites form one of the few such complexes in the central Marches and are therefore of considerable regional significance. The pit circle and the horseshoe-shaped enclosure slightly to the south of the circle were either directly affected by the route of the Welshpool by-pass or by ancillary works. These two sites were consequently excavated in advance of construction work by The Clwyd- Powys Archaeological Trust under the direction of the writer, the pit circle being excavated between November 1990 and February 1991, and the horseshoe-shaped enclosure in July 1991. Radiocarbon dating of various samples of charcoal are still awaited from the two sites and although post-excavation work is still in progress on a number of other aspects of the project it has nevertheless seemed appropriate to offer an interim statement in the Collections. Further work is anticipated on a number of sites within the complex during the coming year. The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust, 7a Church Street, Welshpool, Powys, SY21 7DL.