Howe Mill Enclosure

Has been described as a Possible Timber Castle (Ringwork)

There are earthwork remains

NameHowe Mill Enclosure
Alternative NamesHow Mill; St Mary's Castle
Historic CountryGlamorgan
Modern AuthorityVale of Glamorgan
1974 AuthoritySouth Glamorgan
CommunityLlanfair

A greatly ploughed-down, roughly D-shaped enclosure, c.30m N-S by 50-60m, resting on natural scarps above a stream to the N, defined elsewhere by a single spread bank. Sometimes identified as a castle enclosure. (Coflein)

Howe Mill enclosure, D-shaped, and classed as a medieval castle-ringwork by RCAHMW (1976c, 18 - one of larger type but with little defensice advantage in site and ramparts which seem of no great strength), has been almost levelled by ploughing; at edge of steep slopes dropping to River Thaw. OS fieldworkers in 1968 felt is was more likely to be Iron Age (OS card ST 07 SW) Edith Evans, GGAT 73 Early-Medieval Ecclesiastical Sites Project, 2003-04 (Yr4) Site described as a Medieval ringwork castle (Wiggins and Evans 2005). (Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust HER)

Gatehouse Comments

Much mutilated earthwork and difficult to be precise about. Presumed to be the caput of the medieval fee of Llandough, held from the early C12 by the Walsh family. If so then precursor to Llandough Castle, which has no early medieval fabric.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceST004721
Latitude51.4394302368164
Longitude-3.43304991722107
Eastings300490
Northings172130
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Morgan, Gerald, 2008, Castles in Wales: A Handbook (Talybont: Y Lolfa Cyf.) p. 239 (listed)
  • < >RCAHMW, 1991, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Vol. 3 Part 1a: The Early Castles (London: HMSO) < > CR10 p. 104-6

Journals

  • Spurgeon, C.J. and Thomas, H.J.,1980, 'Howe Mill enclosure, St Mary Church', Archaeology in Wales Vol. 20 p. 75-6

Other

  • Wiggins, H. and Evans, E., 2005, Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan with recommendations for fieldwork
  • Evans, E.M., 2003-04, Early Medieval Ecclesiastical Sites Project (GGAT 73)