Roman landscapes

caer gai

Communication links through this central part of Roman Wales were extensive. Five major Roman roads are known to pass through this landscape; those from Tomen y Mur to Caer Gai, Caer Gai to Chester, Caer Gai to Brithdir, Caersws to Caer Gai and Caerhun eastward.

The topographical location is undoubtedly strategic as attested by the succession of Roman marching camps and a large, nine acre, campaign fortress and stores compound on a gravel terrace above the north bank of the Dee and its small tributary, the Merddwr, at Llanfor. The camps are almost certainly a feature of the earliest Roman campaigns in north-west-Wales in the AD60s and 70s. The turf and timber fortress, with its regular disposition of wooden barracks and administrative buildings implies a significantly more lasting forward base for the control of operations and the consolidation of military gains. Within a relatively short space of time, however, the fortress was abandoned in favour of a smaller and permanent auxiliary fort at the southern end of Llyn Tegid, one of a network of inter-communicating forts designed to police and control the region.

Caer Gai is also strategically-positioned, a rectangular Roman auxiliary fort that was probably garrisoned from c. AD 75-130: the earliest part of the fort is a rectangular turf rampart that has been dated to AD 70-85. In contrast to Llanfor, much of the earthwork complex associated with the site is extant, and on the south-west side of the fort the rampart stands as a bank 8m wide. Both the south-east and south-west corners are very well-preserved, with the ditch curving around them. The bank is surmounted by a modern field wall, probably partly overlying the foundations of the original Roman stone wall that surrounded the whole area and incorporates a few of its squared stones. In addition to a civilian vicus, a variety of specifically military features is also clustered around the fort, which includes a bathhouse, a parade ground and a possible mansio.