Soldiers Grave, Bonvilston

Has been described as a Possible Timber Castle (Ringwork)

There are earthwork remains

NameSoldiers Grave, Bonvilston
Alternative Names
Historic CountryGlamorgan
Modern AuthorityVale of Glamorgan
1974 AuthoritySouth Glamorgan
CommunitySt Nicholas And Bonvilston

Oval ringwork 36m by 30m on flat low lying site. (Salter)

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. (Coflein)

The monument comprises the remains of a well preserved castle-ringwork, which dates to the early part of the medieval period (c. AD 1066 - 1485). There is no medieval record of the castle, but it was probably built by the de Bonville family. The site is located 850m south-east of the village of Bonvilston on low-lying marshy ground at the confluence of Nant Carfan and a minor tributary. The ringwork is roughly oval in shape on plan, but the north corner is distinctly right-angled. It measures 70m in length north-south by 55m in width transversely. The enclosing bank measures a maximum of 2m in height and stands above a wet ditch, which measures a maximum of 5m in width and 1.5m in depth. The flat internal area measures 51m north-south by 37m transversely and gently slopes to the south. The entrance is probably located on the east side, where a simple gap in the bank is accessed via a causeway across the ditch. (Scheduling Report)

Gatehouse Comments

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'. Was this the site of a small village and manorial centre set up during a dry climatic period subsequently abandoned when the site became marshy?

- Philip Davis

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law

Not Listed

The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceST070733
Latitude51.4514503479004
Longitude-3.33904004096985
Eastings307050
Northings173340
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

No photos available. If you can provide pictures please contact Castlefacts

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.

Calculate Print

Books

  • Morgan, Gerald, 2008, Castles in Wales: A Handbook (Talybont: Y Lolfa Cyf.) p. 238 (listed)
  • Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p. 111
  • < >RCAHMW, 1991, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Vol. 3 Part 1a: The Early Castles (London: HMSO) < > CR2 p. 83-5
  • Salter, Mike, 1991, The Castles of Gwent, Glamorgan and Gower (Malvern) p. 75 (slight)
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 161
  • Hague, D.B., 1971, in Pugh, T.B. (ed), Glamorgan County History Vol. 3 The Middle Ages (Cardiff) p. 438

Journals

  • Spurgeon, C.J. and Thomas H.J., 1980, 'Bonvilston ring' Archaeology in Wales Vol. 20 p. 81-2
  • 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 Vol. 119 p. 119-124 (reject)