Briton Ferry Motte (The Gatehouse Record)

Briton Ferry Motte

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Hen Gastell

In the community of Coedffranc.
In the historic county of Glamorgan.
Modern authority of Neath Port Talbot.
Preserved county of West Glamorgan.

OS Map Grid Reference: SS73159403
Latitude 51.63123° Longitude -3.83427°

Briton Ferry Motte has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

Hen Gastell is possibly identified with a castle at 'Aberafan' recorded as destroyed in 1153. The site, recognised in the 1970's, occupies a knoll above river cliffs along the right bank of the lower Neath River close to an historic crossing point (NPRN 34422). The site was partly quarried away in the 1930s and 40s and an archaeological excavation was carried out in 1991-2 in advance road construction. The summit of the knoll, an area at least 25m across, was enclosed by at least one bank and ditch, This was associated with a later 12th-early 13th century ceramic assemblage, overlying and cutting deposits producing fifth to sixth century material. A small Romano-British assemblage was also produced. (Coflein–J.Wiles, RCAHMW, 5 October 2004)

Comments

Rocky knoll may be castle site recorded by the antiquarian Rice Merrick (c1520-87). Said to have been constructed by Morgan ap Caradog of Afan, during a Welsh uprising in c.1183-4. A lunate rock-cut ditch isolates the summit, which has been hacked level. There appears to be confusion between this site on the west bank of the river and the Vernon House site on the east bank of the river. The site was examined before the M4 affected it. David Maynard writes that "There was definite occupation on the summit, with at least one hearth and some post holes. Although the crag had been seriously damaged by medieval stone quarrying, making it hard to interpret the site, there were pre-Norman finds including pottery and a Hiberno-Norse glass bead."

Sources of information, references and further reading

The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s) for this site is/are 401406.
The County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) for this site is/are 00644w; 02705w; 02919w.

Books
- Butler, L., 2009, 'The Castles of the Princes of Gwynedd' in Willams, D. and Kenyon, J. (eds), The Impact of the Edwardian Castles in Wales (Oxbow) p. 27-36
  Morgan, Gerald, 2008, Castles in Wales: A Handbook (Talybont: Y Lolfa Cyf.) p. 254 (listed twice once as possible, once as lost)
  Davis, Paul R., 2007, Castles of the Welsh Princes (Y Lolfa) p. 100
  RCAHMW, 1991, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Vol. 3 Part 1a: The Early Castles (London: HMSO) UW1 p. 139-41
  Salter, Mike, 1991, The Castles of Gwent, Glamorgan and Gower (Malvern) p. 75 (slight)
  Davis, Paul R., 1988, Castles of the Welsh Princes (Swansea)
Periodical Articles
- Wilkinson, Paul F., 1996, 'Excavations at Hen Gastell, Briton Ferry, West Glamorgan, 1991-92' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 39 p. 1-50 download copy
  Avent, Richard, 1994, 'Castles of the Welsh Princes' Château Gaillard Vol. 16 p. 11-17
  Spurgeon, Jack, 1987, 'The Castles of Glamorgan' Château Gaillard Vol. 13 p. 208
  Spurgeon, C.J. and Thomas, H.J..,1980, 'Briton Ferry' Archaeology in Wales Vol. 20 p. 70
  Spurgeon, C.J. and Thomas, H.J., 1978, 'Medieval Glamorgan' Morgannwg Vol. 22 p. 25 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- David Maynard, 6-2-2007, pers. corr.

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales, the four welsh archaeological trusts and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain Designated Historic Asset Descriptive Information from The Welsh Historic Environment Service (Cadw), licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown.
Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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This record last updated 28/06/2017 18:13:03

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