The Roman invasion and settlement of Kite Country

Spreading throughout most of Britain from AD 43 onwards, the Roman legions were finally slowed to a crawl in the mountainous terrain of Scotland and South-East Wales, whose inhabitants resisted the invasion for some 25 years. The result was an extensive network of Roman military encampments all over Kite Country linked by impressive roads constructed across some of the most inhospitable high moorland. The remains of a large fort capable of holding some 500 cavalry can be found at SO 003297 at Y Gaer, overlooking the River Usk a few miles to the West of Brecon (see Map 2). You need to get through a farm to reach it, so please ask locally for directions. However, it is the roads that are the most impressive lasting legacy and these are all marked on the large-scale Ordnance Survey maps. Perhaps the best of these is the one known as Sarn Helen, which linked the fort of Y Gaer with similar encampments in Coelbren and Neath to the South-West. A particularly well-preserved stretch can be accessed easily at SN 926166, on the minor hill road running North from Ystradfellte (see Map 10). Interestingly, if you follow the Roman road South-West for about one mile you will also pass a most impressive 9 feet tall standing stone known as Maen Madoc.

Also well worth a visit are the former Roman gold mines at Dolaucothi, near Pumsaint, in the Cothi valley at the very Western edge of Kite Country. The site is now controlled by the National Trust and is superbly laid out. You can follow marked trails all over the hillside and trace the course of Roman aqueducts and mine workings. You can even pan for gold yourself! The wooded site is especially beautiful in the Autumn. See my page on the River Towy for more details and also Map 12 for directions. When the Romans finally left, a new Dark Age began.

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