Site location
The site can be found at Ordinance Survey grid reference SO 5020 0500, or the nearest postcode is NP25 4PE.
The history of the site
We have discovered a Manor House with two halls and a courtyard that is enclosed with curtain walls and a massive Round Tower six metres across. Within the manor house complex we have discovered several different rooms one with a fireplace and chimney stack and one with a central fireplace. At the centre of the courtyard lies a well in which many interesting finds have been uncovered including a nearly complete mediaeval pot, metal work, wooden objects and parts of leather shoes.
Surrounding the manor house at parts of at least five other buildings have been discovered as well as a possible horse pond to the rear. In all, these buildings seem to date from 1300 A.D. when the town was reorganised and built in stone after the attacks by both English and Welsh forces in the previous decade. Evidence of the earlier town has been found below some of the buildings and occupation on the site may have started 100 years previously. By 1400 some of the buildings had fallen into ruin and by 1650 after the civil war the last of the buildings were abandoned.
Excavation on a nearby field started in 2002 with excavation on this site starting in 2005. The excavation site covers most of the east side of the High Street as well as 3/4 of on side of a minor side road/lane. It is the aim of this excavation to gain a better insight into the nature and workings of Trellech, once Wales's largest urban centre and provide an educational resource for all.
Surrounding the manor house at parts of at least five other buildings have been discovered as well as a possible horse pond to the rear. In all, these buildings seem to date from 1300 A.D. when the town was reorganised and built in stone after the attacks by both English and Welsh forces in the previous decade. Evidence of the earlier town has been found below some of the buildings and occupation on the site may have started 100 years previously. By 1400 some of the buildings had fallen into ruin and by 1650 after the civil war the last of the buildings were abandoned.
Excavation on a nearby field started in 2002 with excavation on this site starting in 2005. The excavation site covers most of the east side of the High Street as well as 3/4 of on side of a minor side road/lane. It is the aim of this excavation to gain a better insight into the nature and workings of Trellech, once Wales's largest urban centre and provide an educational resource for all.