Neath Town Walls

In the community of Neath. In the historic county of Glamorgan (Modern authority of Neath Port Talbot, preserved county of West Glamorgan).

No remains of ?C12 earthworks or possible later stone walls. RCAHMW report possible section of town wall observed springing from the castle, 1965. Full description and history in Spurgeon 2001. The reference to C12 earthworks comes from a charter mentioning 'ad fossatum nove ville' (Clark, Cartae, i,75). Soulsby writes the town was attacked several times but the town 'was a substantial borough with a sound economy protected and foster by charter. Curiously, however, its only defence appears to have been the castle, and there is no evidence to support the view the town was walled or even protected witha bank and ditch' he adds, in a footnote, 'Neath is stated to have been walled by Lewis and Clark. The are several references to ditches in the area of the town, such as the veteri fossato, mentioned in a late C13 or early C14 deed, but nothing to indicate a connection with defence.'

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SS753976

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 National Monument Record (Coflein) number is 307205
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 02784w '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.

• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p273
    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) p189-92
    Clark, G.T., 1883, The Land of Morgan (London) p133 http://www.archive.org/details/landmorganbeing00clargoog
    Lewis, Samual, 1849, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47872#s15
• Journal Articles
  • Spurgeon, C.J., 2001, 'The Medieval Town Defences of Glamorgan' Studia Celtica Vol35 p161-212 esp p196-200
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Clark, G.T., Cartae et alia munimenta quae ad dominium de Glamorgancia pertinent Vol1 p75, 76
    Calendar of Ancient Deeds Vol2 No. B 2737