Welsh Journals

A Medieval House Site at Barry, Glamorgan. HOWARD J. THOMAS, M.A. (Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments, Wales) GERALD DAVIES, B.A. Summary A substantial three-roomed medieval house was excavated by the Barry and Vale Archaeo- logical Group in 1962. The house was occupied in the late thirteenth-early fourteenth century and was abandoned probably soon after the middle of the fourteenth century. An earlier phase of occupation is suggested by the presence nearby of a black soil layer containing twelfth thirteenth-century sherds. The site is situated on the north side of Old Village Road, Barry, at grid reference ST 10276722, about 200 yards east of Barry castle (Fig. 1). It was discovered in March 1961, when middens of limpet shells with associated medieval potsherds were noted protruding from the north bank of the sunken road which cuts across the southern portion of the site. Excavations were carried out by the Barry and Vale Archaeological Group in 1962, the investigation considered necessary in view of the fact that the site lies in a built-up area, subject to threat of possible future building development. Geologically the underlying rock in the immediate vicinity is of lower lias limestone, the soil overlying it of heavy clay. The site is located about 140 ft. above sea level on ground sloping gently to the south-east, sheltered from the prevailing south-west wind. Before the construction of houses in the early part of the present century, the site commanded an extensive southerly view over the Bristol Channel. Water supply was plentiful, the area lying on the water table, being the source of a small stream which ran through what is now Romilly Park to the sea at Cold Knap. The 1878 Ordnance Survey map marks two wells close at hand, including 'Fynnon y Bustach', which previous to the building of the modern town formed the village water supply. The site is not marked on the 1622 map1 of the manor of Barry, nor do any field names seem to have survived recording the tradition of a building. Presumably by then all traces of the structure had disappeared. In 1622 the site was part of the newly enclosed tenement of John Yvors, whose house still stands nearby at grid reference ST 10376719. The map however shows that the site was probably originally one of a group of three or four farm- steads2, widely spaced apart, following the line of a long straggling trackway which ex- tended eastwards from the castle, along the brow of the hill, towards a green or small common which also served as a crossroads (Fig. 2). EXCAVATIONS Before excavation the greater part of the house site was covered by a dense growth of bushes and young trees whilst the remainder, the eastern portion, was occupied by an abandoned allotment garden.