19 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A previously unknown Roman fort discovered in Pembrokeshire in Wales

A previously unknown Roman fort has been discovered in north Pembrokeshire. The site, which has excited archaeologists, had been hidden until now beneath an enormous, overgrown field.

The discovery was made by Dr Mark Merrony who is a leading Roman specialist and a tutor at Wolfson College, Oxford.“It is a humongous fort, an incredible find of national importance,” Merrony told the Guardian, adding that he was “absolutely thrilled” about being responsible for such an amazing find.

The discovery of this previously unknown Roman fortress overturns assumptions that the region’s indigenous Celtic tribe had peaceful terms with the Roman invaders.

Dr. Mark Merrony believes the fort would have been constructed sometime between the first and third centuries AD when the Roman Empire occupied the lands of the United Kingdom. It is the second Roman fort discovered in Pembrokeshire specifically, with the other having been excavated at Wiston near the municipality of Haverfordwest in 2013.

Apart from discovering the ruins of the fort, Merrony also confirmed that a road that ran alongside it originated from the Roman Empire. He was able to do this because the road connects the fort in the field with the second one located at Wiston.

When considered collectively, the two forts demonstrate the strength of the Roman military’s influence in the area during the Roman era. This goes against expectations because it has long been believed that the Celtic Demetae tribe, who were present in Wales 2,000 years ago, got along well with the Romans and posed no real threat. However, it appears that this wasn’t the case given the existence of a network of forts.

“I now don’t think they [the Demetae tribe] were pro-Roman at all, but that the Romans were hitting the area with an iron fist,” Dr. Merrony stated.

A native of Pembrokeshire, Dr. Merrony had often traveled along a particularly straight road – wondering whether it was Roman – and, when he looked at satellite imagery recently, his eye was drawn to a field with dimensions likely to be a Roman fort. This was not visible through the brush that covered the field when standing at ground level, but quite clear when viewed from above.

It’s an archetypal Roman roofing slate’: Merrony’s find. Photo: Roman Fort Project

In order to determine whether his initial suspicions were correct, Dr Merrony began examining the site for Roman material.

 “Sticking out of the ground was a triangular piece that looked like a Roman roofing slate,” he said. “I thought: ‘Surely not?’ I pulled it up and lo and behold, it’s an archetypal Roman roofing slate, an absolute peach. Flip it upside down and you can see underneath a diagonal line where it was grooved to fit into the one that was underneath it. It’s a real beauty. That was the diagnostic evidence I was looking for, which is a miracle, because it’s a huge site.”

He told the farmer about his discovery of the roofing piece, and the farmer told him that there was slate and stone buried just beneath the earth all around the site (which is why the field was unplowed and essentially abandoned).

“That suggests there’s a lot of material under the ground,” Merrony said. “That’s because there’s obviously several collapsed buildings here. The slates are left, the timbers have rotted.”

Further surface-level examinations have led to the discovery of more roofing slate pieces, which are covered in streaks of rust from decayed nails and feature marks that show the pieces had been chiseled and attached to other slate tiles.

 “These are diagnostically consistent with other slates from Romano-British buildings,” Merrony confirmed.

Dr. Merrony estimates that when the fort was erect, its total area would have been between 5-7.5 acres (2-3 hectares) based on its outline. According to his estimation, the fort would have been big enough to accommodate the deployment of roughly 500 Roman soldiers, which suggests that it served more as an auxiliary fort than a primary defensive position.

To protect the discovery, its location won’t be disclosed to the public until a geophysical survey is carried out.

Cover Photo: Roman Fort Project

Related Articles

Ancient terracotta dancers, and musicians unearthed in China

13 November 2022

13 November 2022

Chinese archaeologists recently discovered a large group of terracotta figurines from a tomb in a group dating to the Northern...

Researchers find 3,000-year-old shark attack victim in Japan

24 June 2021

24 June 2021

In a paper published today, Oxford-led researchers reveal their discovery of a 3,000-year-old victim—attacked by a shark in the Seto...

Fragments of ‘unique’ 17th-century iconostasis discovered in Polish church

28 October 2023

28 October 2023

Researchers from the Institute of Art at the Polish Academy of Sciences (IS PAN) have discovered substantial fragments of a...

China’s 4300-Year-Old Ancient Pyramids

26 March 2021

26 March 2021

Shaanxi Province in Northwest China is famous for its rich archaeological treasures. Among the many sites discovered in Shaanxi, the...

1.5-Million-year-old Footprints have Revealed the Co-Existence of two Ancient Human Species in Kenya

30 November 2024

30 November 2024

Thanks to a set of preserved footprints on the ancient shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya, researchers have uncovered the...

In Turkey’s western Uşak province, 2,000-year-old statues have been unearthed

19 December 2021

19 December 2021

During the excavations in the ancient city of Blaundos in the Ulubey district of Uşak, two statues of 2000 years...

A Chapel was Found Under the Madonna Tal-Hniena Church in Qrendi, Malta

21 May 2021

21 May 2021

Underneath the Madonna Tal-Hniena church in the village of Qrendi in the south of Malta, the remains of an ancient...

1,500-year-old feast mosaic found in Turkey

2 February 2022

2 February 2022

A 50-square-meter mosaic depicting an open-air feast dating back 1,500 years ago was unearthed during excavations in the ancient city...

An inscription written in both runic and Latin script on a church wall in Denmark turned out to be still a legally significant promissory note

31 May 2023

31 May 2023

An inscription in both runic and Latin script on a church wall in Denmark turned out to be legally valid...

Poland’s oldest copper axe discovered in the Lublin region

30 March 2024

30 March 2024

A copper axe from the 4th to 3rd millennium BC identified with the Trypillia culture was found in the Horodło...

A 2,000-year-old Roman grave belonging to soldier Flaccus unearthed in Netherlands

9 December 2024

9 December 2024

Archaeologists have uncovered a 2,000-year-old grave from the Roman settlement in Heerlen, Netherlands. The latest analysis has shown that it...

In Peru, Archaeologists Discovered an Ancient Dance Floor that can Imitate Rumbling of Thunder

21 July 2023

21 July 2023

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient “sounding” dance floor in Peru that was designed to create a drum-like sound when stepped...

Bronze Age family systems deciphered: Paleogeneticists analyze 3,800-year-old extended family

31 August 2023

31 August 2023

A Bronze Age family living 3,800 years ago in the Southern Urals may have taken a flexible approach to marriage,...

Archaeologists have uncovered the first human representations of the people of mythical Tartessos

19 April 2023

19 April 2023

Archaeologists representing Spain’s National Research Council (CSIS) excavating at the site of Casas del Turunuelo have uncovered the first human...

Archaeologists Found Probable Evidence of the Existence of Amazons in Azerbaijan

27 March 2024

27 March 2024

Archaeological research carried out in Azerbaijan recently likely confirmed the existence of Amazons, female warriors from Greek mythology. During excavations...