Soldiers Grave, Bonvilston

In the community of St Nicholas And Bonvilston.
In the historic county of Glamorgan (Modern authority of Vale of Glamorgan, preserved county of South Glamorgan).

Described by Salter as 'Oval ringwork 36m by 30m on flat low lying site.' RCAHMW record as "Oval ringwork surrounded by a bank 10ft above the wet ditch, and associated earthworks, possibly a bailey or burgus. A sub-oval enclosure, c.40m NW-SE by 30m, defined by a bank and ditch. Thought to be an early medieval castle enclosure, abandoned by c.1250 when the land hereabouts was granted to Margam Abbey." Hogg and King rejected this site in 1970 but accepted as castle site by King in 1983 although described as "shapeless and overgrown earthwork in very marshy site'.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Earthworks remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is ST07057334

Modern Map from

Good for landscape form and features

Modern Map from

Good for general location

Air Photo from

1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Monuments Record number; 227997

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 00696s

Books

Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p111
RCAHMW, 1991, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Vol3 pt1a: The Early Castles (London: HMSO) CR2 p83-5
Salter, Mike, 1991, The Castles of Gwent, Glamorgan and Gower (Malvern) p75 [slight]
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p161
Hague, D.B., 1971, in Pugh, T.B. (ed), Glamorgan County History Vol3 The Middle Ages (Cardiff) p438

Journal Articles

Spurgeon, C.J. and Thomas H.J., 1980, 'Bonvilston ring' Archaeology in Wales Vol20 p81-2
Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1970, 'Castles in Wales and the Marches (Additions and corrections to lists published in 1963 and 1967)', Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol119 p119-124 [reject]

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This record last updated on Saturday, January 20, 2007

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