Excavations South of the Legionary Fortress at Usk, Gwent, 1994

Abstract

Previous work U sk (Burrium) 1 has long been considered a Roman site. 2 Its identification as a pre-Flavian military site was made by Boon, 3 following his reassessment of material recovered in the nineteenth century. 4 Subsequently a series of excavations was undertaken between 1965 and 1976 by Professor W.H. Manning on behalf of University College, Cardiff and the Department of the Environment (later the Ancient Monuments Branch of the Welsh Office). 5 Since 1975 work in Usk has been carried out by the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust. 6 Site location and assessment An opportunity to undertake further excavations in the vicinity of the fortress occurred as the result of a proposal by Dwr Cymru Cyf (Welsh Water) to replace a sewage main between the Pumping Station at Usk, Gwent (NGR SO 3781 0028) and the Sewage Treatment Works south of Craig Olway (NGR ST 3875 9950). Consultation with the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust's Curatorial Section established that the northern part of the proposed pipeline route would cross the assumed line of the road approaching the portapraetoria, before turning westwards to cross the modern Usk-Llanllowell minor road and then run parallel to the presumed position of the southern defences of the fortress 7 across Usk Cricket Ground as far as the pumping station, which lies on the defences. As engineering considerations prevented the route being diverted to follow the Usk-Llanllowell road, an evaluation programme was devised to assess the archaeological impact of the development. This consisted of a geophysical survey in the Cricket Ground, 8 and five evaluation trenches 9 cut within the proposed pipeline easement in OS Fields 0011, 0020, and 0033. The geophysical survey indicated that there were unlikely to be significant remains immediately outside the postulated line of the outer southern ditch of the fortress. The 1