Welsh Journals

River Trade and Shipping in Caerleon from the 16th to the 19th century by Mrs. t. Kennerley There is archaeological evidence that the river Usk has changed its course since the Roman period.' It is fairly certain, however, that this change occurred below Caerleon bridge. The wharfs of the Middle Ages and later periods were certainly situated where the remains of them still can be seen: between Hanbury Arms and a few yards below the present bridge. Dorothy Sylvester thinks the positions of medieval Chester and Caer- leon are comparable. They both "opened on to an estuary which in turn gave access to the western seas of Britain and although, in the Middle Ages, it was Bristol which ranked with Chester as a major western port, the sea trade of Monmouthshire was by no means insignificant and many of its minor ports long continued in use".2 The river, the depth of which at Caerleon is about 38 ft at a 45 ft tide, has many bends. According to Nash-Williams there was a weir at St. Julians- m the Middle Ages and in 1580 a customs official in Cardiff said that "carriage could not be had at all times" from Caerleon because of several weirs.3 In addition to the weirs, another difficulty was pre- sented by Newport bridge which Leland in 1537 says was "a lette", that is, an impediment. But, we must not think of the ships which came to Caerleon as comparable to modern ships. They were very small, carrying about 20-30 tons and looking more like barges, especially when their masts were down-which probably had to happen at Newport bridge at least. Many of them were called "trows" and were indeed like those on the river Wye. Even much later, prints of the end of the 18th century and of the first half of the 19th, show very small ships indeed. No matter how small the ships, they managed to do quite a lot of trading, mainly between Caerleon and Bristol, although there were a few which ventured further out. It is of course quite possible that the ships, the names of which appear in documents and which are said to be "of Caerleon", did not all actually load and unload at Caerleon wharf but traded from Newport or from the creeks on the coast, or even did their exchange of cargoes at sea, as was the case with those avoiding customs duties. Although no names of medieval ships are known, there is some evidence of trade in Caerleon at that period. During the excavations in 1964-66 Mr. George Boon found a medieval well or pit in the centre of Caerleon (behind the vicarage) and in it remains of pottery of the late 13th or early 14th century. They indicate that the "pattern of trade and industrial contacts" were mainly directed towards Bristol and the West Country.4