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Rockfield Farm Motte, Llangwm Isaf

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
New House

In the community of Llangwm.
In the historic county of Monmouthshire.
Modern authority of Monmouthshire.
Preserved county of Gwent.

OS Map Grid Reference: SO42430110
Latitude 51.70584° Longitude -2.83429°

Rockfield Farm Motte, Llangwm Isaf has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
Description

A well-preserved ringwork, with raised interior, consists of an oval bank about 10m wide and up to 2.4m high above an external ditch and with overall dimensions of some 55m across. Overgrown with trees. (Coflein)

The site at Llangwm Isaf is difficult to assess as it may represent multiple phasing. The interpretation of the site, based on actual remains, topographical survey and location suggests the following possibilities:
The site may be a re-used pre-historic site due to the location and the shape of the earthwork.
The site may have been adapted as an early period watch-tower, or a guard post for the quarry. The absence of a bailey wouldn’t be a problem as the enclosed area would be large enough to accommodate supplies and horses for a small garrison.
The site may also be a late period fortified-site suggested by the size of the mound’s top surface area and the lack of any real defence. There is no satisfactory way given the available information to assign a period to this earthwork.
Dating of the site is difficult as it would be dictated by any of the above combinations therefore this site must remain undated at present. (Phillips 2005)

The monument comprises the remains of a well preserved castle-ringwork, which dates to the medieval period (c. AD 1066 - 1485). The ringwork is located on a small hilltop and consists of a circular flat-topped mound, 45m in diameter at the base and 24m across the summit. The summit of the mound is encircled by a steep-sided bank, 1m high on the inside and 2m high on the outside. On the NE is a 4m wide break in the bank which could have been an entrance. There is an external ditch surrounding the ringwork, it is 2m wide and 1m deep, and extends around the N, S and E sides of the castle mound. (Scheduling Report)
Comments

May have more to do with the hunting forest of Usk Castle, possibly as the site of a foresters house.
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
Coflein   County HER   Scheduling        
Maps >
Streetmap   NLS maps   Where's the path   Old-Maps      
Data/Maps > 
Magic   Historic Wales   V. O. B.   Geology   LIDAR  
Air Photos > 
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Sources of information, references and further reading
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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.
Lidar coverage in the UK is not complete. The button above will give an idea of the area of coverage. Higher resolution lidar images in both DSM and DTM form may be available from Lle A geo-Portal for Wales (click the preview tag to bring up a map and then select format byclicking on the small blue diamond in the top right corner of the map.)
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This record last updated 03/07/2016 11:33:30
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