A History of Kenfig

A History of Kenfig

Mansel Jones

Goylake Publishing

Copyright © 2011 Mansel Jones

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced by any means, nor transmitted, nor translated into a machine language, without the written permission of the publisher.

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This book is dedicated to my family

To Daniela, Owain and Rhys

To Philip and Andrew

To my mother, Jean

To my late father, Ray

Chapter One – Prehistoric Kenfig

Early Settlers

Archaeological evidence suggests that people have been living in the Kenfig landscape since the Neolithic period, c4,000 – 2,500 B.C. Animal remains, including deer and ancient cattle, have been discovered in the peat beds of Sker Beach, exposed by the rolling waves of the sea, along with, at Newton Down, a polished flint axe. It is possible that the axe was used to help clear the landscape of trees to allow settlement, for the Neolithic period saw a revolution in the way people lived.

Previously, in the Mesolithic period, people had been nomadic hunter-gatherers, roaming their environment for food. These people used flint and antler tools and they travelled the land with their portable shelters. In the Mesolithic period the population of Britain is estimated at 5,000 people, but that figure rose to 100,000 in the Neolithic period as the inhabitants took to the land.

In the Neolithic period farming became the norm along with the domestication of animals and the establishment of settlements. Attitudes changed, the landscape changed and a new diet was created as people cultivated barley and wheat and feasted on bread and stew.

The cultivation of crops, the domestication of animals and the ability to make items of pottery transformed society leading to larger families and the search for new land within the interior of Britain. It could be argued that the change from hunter-gathering to farming is the greatest social revolution mankind has seen, to date, and that the surplus food that was created, along with the development of a cohesive society, led to the creation of great communal projects, such as Stonehenge, for it can be no coincidence that the first stones of this great monument were being placed at this time.

Given this cultural background, and the archaeological finds, it is interesting to speculate that Kenfig, although not known by this name at that time, was already a home to people who fished from the sea, who tended their animals and cultivated their crops, much as we do today, 6,000 years later.

The Bronze Age

As the name implies, the Bronze Age was an age when people moved away from flint and stone tools into a world of bronze, copper and gold. The forging of these metals, for practical and decorative use, heralded a time when land was becoming more important to the individual, and to communities, and the roots of farming, sown in the Neolithic period, had become firmly established and were now flourishing.

Bronze could be crafted into tools and weapons and, indeed, the first swords were made of bronze. The metal became a symbol of wealth and status leading to the establishment of an elite and a hierarchical structure in society.

During the Bronze Age the population of Britain doubled from a quarter of a million to half a million people. By this time settlements had become permanent and villages were flourishing, leading to a sense of place.

Excavations at Mount Pleasant near Stormy Down in 1952 revealed that people were farming in the area. The excavations uncovered a dwelling, dated 1,600 – 1,400 B.C., and a burial urn, dated 1,400 – 1,200 B.C. Pottery and flint scrapers were also found at the site.

Meanwhile, arrowheads and sling stones, the latter found at Nottage Court, demonstrate that the quest for land also brought with it the brutality of violence as the inhabitants defended their territory.

Nearer the coast, at Locks Common and Merthyr Mawr, a bronze axe head and a Bronze Age pin have also been discovered. Additionally, the landscape around Kenfig reveals how people respected the dead in the Neolithic and Bronze Age eras with burial mounds at Merthyr Mawr, Mount Pleasant, Stormy Down, Sker, Tythegston and a further two mounds at Lock’s Common. Given the extent of these burial mounds it is not too fanciful to suggest that at least one mound exists under the sands of Kenfig.

The Iron Age

In the Iron Age, c700 B.C. - 43 A.D., an increase in the population, and the subsequent strain on the land, saw people move further inland, to higher ground, where they established hillforts, or hilltop enclosures. The name ‘fort’ implies a military style encampment and while there is plenty of evidence to suggest that these enclosures were defensive it has also been proposed that they were communal places where members of a tribe would gather together to live in relative safety.

When conflict did take place it was usually on a small scale, typified by raiding and cattle rustling. Nevertheless, the hillforts were dominated by powerful leaders and so the Iron Age is also the age of the chieftain with grave goods indicating men of great status.

As time advanced the tribal leaders became petty kings and society moved away from its egalitarian base as people were enslaved. Moreover, the concept of land ownership became evermore important and tribal friction increased leading to the establishment of a warrior class.

As for the metal, the advantage of iron over bronze is that it stays sharper and is more durable, leading to better quality tools and swords. Ploughs could now be made of iron and more land could be cultivated as a result. This led to greater efficiency and a surplus of grain, which was safely stored in pits for a year, or more.

Meanwhile, coinage was introduced and trade became more widespread, including contacts with Rome. Religion was dominated by pagan beliefs and those beliefs were shaped by the true elite of society, the Druids.

Enclosures at Tythegston, Stormy Down, Candleston Farm and Cefn Cribwr suggest a continuity of settlement in the Kenfig landscape and a link with our Iron Age ancestors.

Chapter Two – The Romans

Kenfig and the Romans

On the 23rd August 55 B.C. the Romans invaded Britain. That invasion was led by Julius Caesar; however, it took another ninety-eight years before the Romans established a strong foothold in Britain with a further invasion in 43 A.D.

From 43 A.D. onwards, decade by decade, the Romans conquered, and then ruled, the various tribes of Britain. Some of those tribes offered stiff resistance while others were more accommodating, or found ways of accepting the new order as imposed by Rome.

In 200 A.D. Britain was a home to approximately three million people and some of those people became the slaves of Rome. The Romans also helped themselves to British tin, copper and lead and, in Wales, gold. In return, the Romans offered urban life, with towns and cities and roads, a level of bureaucracy not seen before in Britain and a written language.

Before the Romans arrived in Britain, the island was a nation of individual tribes, often at war with one another. The Romans introduced a unified political structure and they created the notion of Britannia; however, despite the Roman victory, it is estimated that 90% of Britons lived their lives largely untouched by the ways of Rome.

Archaeological finds suggest that there was a Roman settlement at Kenfig. Pieces of Romano-British pottery, including a piece of samian ware carrying the maker’s mark have been found. This fragment of pot originated from central Gaul and was made in the first century A.D. In addition, Roman roofing tiles have been found in the castle walls. These tiles were recycled by the Normans when they constructed the castle, c1147.

Further evidence of Roman occupation is suggested by coins, one depicting the emperor Claudius II, (268 – 270 A.D.) and another depicting the emperor Constans (337 – 350 A.D.).  

A Roman road, the Via Julia Maritima, still runs through the borough and that road is known today as Heol-y-Sheet, Heol Fach and Water Street. This road was marked by mile stones and these stones were situated at Margam and Pyle and they carried inscriptions to the emperors Postumus (259 – 268 A.D.) and Victorinus (268 - 270 A.D.) respectively. Victorinus controlled the Gallic Empire, which in turn controlled Britain, although Claudius II was considered the legitimate emperor of Rome.

The shard of pottery, the mile stones and the coins cover a period of nearly 300 years and they come close to spanning the era (c43 A.D. – c410 A.D.) when the Romans had a presence in Britain.

The Bodvoc Stone

North of Moel Ton Mawr and south-east of Mynydd Margam, a great stone was erected to commemorate Bodvoc, leader of the Silures. The year was 75 A.D. and Bodvoc had been killed by the invading Romans. The stone is inscribed, in Latin, with the following: ‘here lies Bodvoc, son of Cattegern, great grandson of Eternalis Vedomavus’.

The Silures were a tribe that dominated south-east Wales before the arrival of the Romans in the first century A.D. and Roman chroniclers noted that the Silures offered lengthy, and often successful, guerrilla resistance to the advancing legions.

The territory of the Silures extended as far as the River Wye to the north and the east, where they shared a border with the Dobunni tribe, and beyond the River Tawe to the west, where their lands bordered those of the Demetae.

The Kenfig coastline was an important location for the Silures and it is possible that,