Welsh Journals

ROMAN REMAINS-CARDIFF RACECOURSE. By JOHN WARD, M.A., F.S.A., Keeper of the Archaeological Department, National Museum of Wales. Of the large low-lying alluvial tract through which the three rivers, the Ely on the west, the Rhymney on the east, and the Taff midway between the two, reach the Severn Sea, only a small portion extends westwards beyond the first river, and on this is the Cardiff Racecourse, the City of Cardiff occupying the rest as far as the last river. The Ely hereabouts flows windingly to the south-east, and north of the Racecourse is bridged by the Cowbridge Road, which heads south-west. Within the angle formed by the two and about the middle of the course, are the obscure mounds and hollows which we are about to consider. They are distant nearly half-a-mile south-by-east of Ely Bridge, and are about midway between the river and the road while some 130 feet to the south is the modern straight course of the Caerau Brook, and a quarter-of-a-mile further, the steep wooded slope of Cocks Hill. The Cowbridge Road here is by general consent regarded as part of the important Roman highway popularly known as the Via Julia, and Ely Bridge as the place where it crossed the river. In the Spring of 1894, the late Mr. John Storrie called the attention of the Committee of the Cardiff Naturalists' Society to these mounds, and more especially to the fact that they contained ancient pottery, as proved by some trial holes he had made. The Committee decided upon a thorough investigation, and to this end made a grant of £ 25 towards the expenses, and issued an appeal for contributions, which yielded a further sum of £ 37. Mr. Storrie was engaged to superintend the work of excavation. A trench, 335 feet long and about 4 feet 6 inches