St Clears Town Defences

In the community of St Clears. In the historic county of Carmarthenshire (Modern authority of Carmarthenshire, preserved county of Dyfed).

No remains of earthwork town defences, for which there is no documentary evidence. Presumed to be a bank running across the open side of the town between the Afon Taf and Afon Cynin. The Dyfed Archaeological Trust excavated, in 1990, the last remaining bit of the outer face of the bank, all the rest had been terraced away for housing. No evidence of palisade, but very definitely a substantial clay bank. The ground beneath the bank was marked with cattle hoof prints. (My thanks to David Maynard for this information.)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SN28021546

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 8462 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Web site links
  • http://www.castlewales.com/stclears.html
• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p83, 128, 273
    Bond, C.J., 1987, 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences', in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report) p92-116
    Soulsby, Ian, 1983, The Towns of Medieval Wales (Phillimore; Chichester) p237-8 [plan]