Celtic Manor Ryder Cup Course Extension,

summary report of excavation at

Great Bulmore (MM176), Newport
Archaeological desk based assessment
December 2005
GGAT report no. 2005/088
Project no. P1003
A report for The Celtic Manor Resort National Grid Reference:
by Martin Tuck ST 3615 9150

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The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd

Heathfield House Heathfield Swansea SA1 6EL
 Celtic Manor Ryder Cup course extension, excavation at Great Bulmore (MM176),
summary report

Contents Page

Summary 2
Acknowledgments 2
Copyright notice 2

1 Introduction 3
1.1 Project background 3
1.2 Archaeological interest 3

2 Scheduled Monument Consent, conditions and specification 5

2.1 Scheduled Monument Consent 5

3 Fieldwork aims and methodology 7

3.1 Trial Investigation 7
3.2 Location of Trial investigation trenches 7
3.3 Fieldwork methodology 8

4 Results 10
5 Conclusions to date 12
6 Revised Scheduled Ancient Monument boundary 13
7 Post excavation 14

Bibliography 15

Figures
Figure 1: Location map 3
Figure 2: Location of trial investigation and geophysics interpretation 16
Figure 3: Plan showing excavated trenches and Roman building in T22 17

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 Celtic Manor Ryder Cup course extension, excavation at Great Bulmore (MM176),
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Summary
Planning consent has been granted to the Celtic Manor Resort for an extension to the
existing Wentwood Hills golf course. The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
were appointed by the Celtic Manor Resort to oversee and undertake archaeological
works in connection with the development of the new course which will be the one on
which the Ryder Cup golf tournament will be played in 2010. One of the new greens,
Hole 17, impinged on the Scheduled Ancient Monument known as Roman Site Great
Bulmore MM 176. Twenty-four evaluation trenches were examined in the monument.
The result of the evaluation was that remains of Roman date were discovered on the
flatter ground at the base of the hill at various points in the SAM area.
At the request of Cadw a potential burial was removed and five small additional
trenches excavated in order to define the southern limits of the single certain building
complex found by the evaluation. All remains were recorded before the trenches were
backfilled; those containing remains by hand the others mechanically. As the
evaluation provided definition of the limits the SAM boundary can be realigned.
This report provides a summary of the findings as required by Condition 9 of the
Scheduled Monument Consent. A full report will be published following completion
of post excavation work for the whole development.

Acknowledgments
Thanks are due to Sir Terry Matthews, Russell Phillips and the staff of Celtic Manor
Resort and the Cadw monitoring group of Rick Turner, Richard Brewer (NMGW) and
Neil Maylan of GGAT Curatorial the archaeological advisor to Newport City
Council. Thanks are also extended to Hugh Owen and the staff of Griffiths, Civil
Engineering Contractors. The project was managed by Andrew Marvell BA MIFA
and the fieldwork was directed by Martin Tuck of GGAT Contracts. The site team of
Jon Burton, Catherine Rees, Lee Jones, Rodger Burchell, Scott Bradburn, Rowena
Hart, Rob Riddett, Dave Roberts, Jim Toseland and Richard Lewis are thanked for
their endeavours.

Copyright
The copyright of this report is held by the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
Ltd, which has granted an exclusive licence to Celtic Manor Resort and their agents to
use and reproduce the information contained within. Ordnance Survey mapping is
reproduced under licence AL10005976. Annotations are GGAT copyright.

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 Celtic Manor Ryder Cup course extension, excavation at Great Bulmore (MM176),
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1 Introduction
1.1 Project Background
Planning consent has been granted to the Celtic Manor Resort for an extension to the
existing Wentwood Hills golf course. The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
were appointed by the Celtic Manor Resort to oversee and undertake archaeological
works in connection with the development of the new course which will be the one on
which the Ryder Cup golf tournament will be played in 2010. One of the new greens,
Hole 17, impinged on the Scheduled Ancient Monument known as Roman Site Great
Bulmore MM 176 (centred on ST 3565 9115; Figure 1 shows location of the
investigation area). Planning consent was granted in 2001 for works in the part of the
monument affected. The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust carried out the
archaeological evaluation work between 6th June and 19th September 2005.

Figure 1: Map showing SAM evaluation area outlined in red and development
boundary in green

N
N

0 500 1,000

metres

Reproduced from Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 scale map with the permission of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office,
Crown Copyright. Annotations ©GGAT Ltd, Heathfield House, Heathfield, Swansea SA1 6EL. Licence Number AL10005976

1.2 Archaeological interest

Great Bulmore as the site of a Roman settlement (PRNs 00430g and 04058g) was first
realised in 1815 with the discovery of a large masonry building incorporating re-used
tombstones; eight tombstones had been trimmed and placed facedown, with signs of
wear on the backs. In 1975, excavations conducted by Dr Blaise Vyner to the east of
Great Bulmore (the present SAM area), uncovered a substantial multi-phase masonry
building, whose later phases extended over the top of the Roman road linking Usk to
Caerleon. Again the structure incorporated a re-used tombstone (Vyner 1978). Dr
David Zienkiewicz of Caerleon Legionary Museum conducted further excavations in
the early and mid 1980s and demonstrated that an extensive Roman settlement existed

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 Celtic Manor Ryder Cup course extension, excavation at Great Bulmore (MM176),
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at Great Bulmore (Zienkiewicz 1984). At least fifteen masonry buildings were

identified as well as a number of inhumations and some medieval features. A
geophysical survey conducted in 1984 demonstrated that archaeological remains
extended to the south of Great Bulmore into the survey area, although a small area
surveyed immediately west of Little Bulmore Farm, failed to identify any
archaeological features (Glover and J. Oetgen 1984). Extensive evaluation works
were carried out in 1999 and revealed further areas of buildings on either side of the
Bulmore Road to the west of Ysgubar Newydd Farm as far as the stream valley
running down from Catsash House. In the fields to the west of this valley and to the
north of Little Bulmore Farm cemeteries were identified. Following this work the
Scheduled Ancient Monument was extended to its current limit. Further geophysical
survey work was carried out at the eastern end of the monument in 2002 as a
condition of the current Scheduled Monument Consent.
Bulmore Road roughly follows the line of the Roman Road from Caerleon to Usk
(PRN 03077.0g). This is part of Iter XII of the Antonine Itinerary; the route from
Viriconium (Wroxeter) to Muridonum (Carmarthen) (Rivet and Smith 1979).
Excavations to the north of Bulmore have shown this road comprised a metalled
surface 7m in width, constructed on a terrace cut into the hillside, although there were
no side ditches (Marvell 1996).
The topographical relationship of the Bulmore settlement to the fortress and adjacent
canabae implies that it may have been deliberately sited to lie on the edge of the
territorium of the 2nd Augustan Legion, but close enough to the fortress to exploit the
economic benefits under military control. The existence of two separate settlements,
one adjacent to the fortress with a second under civil authority within 1.5-2.5km, has
been demonstrated at Chester and on sites in mainland Europe (Mason 1988). Other
Roman funerary remains have been found to the east of the Bulmore settlement at
Abernant Farm where an enclosed inhumation cemetery has been identified (Tuck
2004). During the construction of the third golf course a Roman pottery kiln was
discovered to the southeast of Great Bulmore. This produced mortaria (food
preparation vessels) and a variety of vessel types in “Caerleon Ware” (Webster,
Hartley, Marvell and Sell 2004). The kiln is separately protected as monument SAM
MM 257 (NPT).

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 Celtic Manor Ryder Cup course extension, excavation at Great Bulmore (MM176),
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2 Scheduled Monument Consent and conditions

2.1 Scheduled Monument Consent
In addition to the planning consent for the Ryder Cup Course, Scheduled Monument
Consent was granted in 2001 for works that would affect part of the Roman Site Great
Bulmore Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM MM 176).
There were eleven conditions attached to the consent. Six of these conditions (1, 2, 3,
7, 8, 11) were concerned with notification, monitoring and control, two (9, 10) with
reporting, and three (4, 5, and 6) with archaeological investigation and recording.
The consent recognised that the intention to protect all affected areas with a protective
membrane to a method submitted with the application would safeguard the
archaeological resource but also considered that the proposed soil overburden needed
for the construction of hole 17 would be such that opportunity for future investigation
would be precluded.
Conditions 4, 5 and 6 read:
4. that prior to the work being undertaken, provision shall be made for all areas to be
covered by additional material to be examined by the most appropriate geophysical
survey techniques available to determine the underlying archaeology on a site of this
nature. The programme for this geophysical survey shall be approved in writing by
Cadw, on behalf of the assembly;
5. that following the geophysical survey, provision shall be made for a programme of
trial excavation, which shall be approved by Cadw. This shall examine areas where
the depth of additional material would exceed 2 metres above the existing ground
level and shall be designed to identify the location of the individual features, such as,
buildings and burials through the excavation of trials areas;
6. that if archaeological features considered by Cadw to be of particular importance
are identified, they shall be fully recorded through excavation by a suitably qualified
archaeological organisation. The organisation and the project design for such
excavation work shall be approved in writing by Cadw.
The geophysical survey and interpretation (Figure 2) was undertaken by a specialist
sub-contractor (GSB Prospection) to a specification approved by Cadw, the works
monitored by Cadw, and a report submitted (GSB 2002).
A written scheme of investigation providing specification for the trial investigations
was submitted to Cadw in May 2005 and approved subject to further specific
conditions for this phase of work to cover notification, monitoring, infilling, the
determination of further works and summary reporting.
Following initial machine excavation and cleaning a site visit (14th June 2005) was
convened to monitor and assess the archaeological discoveries. The monitoring group
recommendations were to clean the surfaces of those trenches that contained
archaeological features and record the remaining trenches; a revisit was arranged for
28th June 2005. Further works were agreed during the second inspection and included
sampling and the manual backfilling of nominated trenches, limited extension of T22
to determine the southern extent of the building and expansion and excavation of the
cist grave in T4.

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 Celtic Manor Ryder Cup course extension, excavation at Great Bulmore (MM176),
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Cadw approved the manual backfilling of trenches T22 and T11 following a site visit
on 13th September 2005; backfilling began on 15th September 2005 and was
completed on the 19th September 2005. This action finalised the fieldwork in the
monument.

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 Celtic Manor Ryder Cup course extension, excavation at Great Bulmore (MM176),
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3 Fieldwork aims and methodology

3.1 Trial Investigation
The aim of the trial investigation was to investigate the potential archaeological
resource through observation and recording in order to ensure identification of
features of particular importance that would need to be fully recorded through later
excavation. In particular, the trial investigations investigated areas where imported
soils needed to facilitate the construction of Hole 17 on the New Championship
Course, would exceed 2m in depth (see condition 5 in 2.1 above). Hole 17 was
located partly on the hillslope and partly on the flatter ground above and south of the
Bulmore Road and was constructed entirely of imported material to build up the
ground. The investigation targeted anomalies identified from the geophysical survey.
(GSB 2002)

3.2 Location of Trial investigation trenches

The trial investigations were located in two fields to the east and southeast of Great
Bulmore in the positions shown in Figures 2 and 3. Twenty-four trenches (T1 to T24)
were positioned with the expectation of extracting maximum archaeological
information based on the interpretation of the geophysical results. Individual trench
rationale is given below:
T1 (2m x 20m) was located to test possible curvilinear feature identified from
gradiometer survey and confirm that the area to the west was archaeologically sterile
(GSB 2002 paragraph 4.2).
T2 (2m x 5m) was located to investigate a possible field boundary identified from
gradiometer survey (GSB 2002 paragraph 4.2).
T3 (2m x 7m) was located to investigate an area of low resistance (no 5) identified by
resistivity survey, which was associated with an anomaly from gradiometer survey
suggestive of burnt/fired material (GSB 2002 paragraph 5.5).
T4 (2m x 20m) was located to test whether an area of discrete high resistance is of
archaeological interest or given the lack of gradiometer responses and position on the
slope of natural origin, the north-south orientation of this trial investigation was
designed to test for the presence of ancient terracing (GSB 2002 paragraph 5.4).
T5 (2m x 40m) was located to test whether area of discrete high resistance was of
archaeological interest or given lack of gradiometer responses and position on the
slope of natural origin (GSB 2002 paragraph 5.4).
T6 (2m x 15m) was located to test the westernmost part of the area of high resistance
(no 1) identified by resistivity survey and to test for the presence of ancient terracing
(GSB 2002 paragraph 5.1).
T7 (2m x 20m) was located to confirm that the lack of response from gradiometer and
resistance testing was truly negative.
T8 (2m x 25m) was located to test potential building remains or industrial activity
suggested by gradiometer signals (Area A) and resistance responses (no 1) (GSB
2002 paragraphs 4.1 and 5.1).

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 Celtic Manor Ryder Cup course extension, excavation at Great Bulmore (MM176),
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T9 (2m x 25m) was located to test potential building remains or industrial activity
suggested by gradiometer signals (Area A) and resistance responses (nos 1 and 3)
(GSB Report 2002/11 paragraphs 4.1, 5.1 and 5.3).
T10 (2m x 20m) was located to test the easternmost part of an area of high resistance
(no 1) identified by resistivity survey and curvilinear features identified by
gradiometer testing (GSB 2002 paragraphs 4.2 and 5.1).
T11 (2m x 45m) was located to test an area of frequent gradiometer responses and
high resistance anomalies likely to represent building remains in an area where a
previous excavation trench confirmed building remains (GSB 2002 paragraph 5.16).
T12 (2m x 30m) was located to test a gradiometer anomaly (Area E) and confirm the
extent of archaeological remains and landscape (eg terraces) in the area to the south as
far as the high resistance interest no 9 as the signal from a modern pipe may have had
a masking affect (GSB 2002 paragraphs 4.4, 4.8, 4.11, 5.14).
T13 (2m x 20m) was located to test whether lack of geophysical responses were truly
negative.
T14 (2m x 20m) was located to test whether the lack of geophysical responses were
truly negative.
T15 (2m x 30m) was located to test a possible area of buildings represented by high
resistance response (no 9) (GSB 2002 paragraph 5.14).
T16 (2m x 10m) was located to test a possible area of buildings represented by high
resistance response (no 9) (GSB 2002 paragraph 5.14).
T17 (2m x 25m) was located to test a possible area of buildings represented by high
resistance response (no 9) (GSB 2002 paragraph 5.14).
T18 (2m x 5m) was located to test a possible boundary identified from gradiometer
survey was sterile (GSB 2002 paragraph 4.2).
T19 (2m x 20m) was located to test for ancient terracing and to test whether lack of
geophysical responses were truly negative.
T20 (2m x 20m) was located to test an area of burnt/fired material identified from
gradiometer survey (GSB 2002 paragraph 4.9).
T21 (2m x 15m) was located to test a possible ancient field boundary identified from
gradiometer survey and a possible structure (no 13) identified from resistance data
(GSB 2002 paragraph s 4.8, 5.18).
T22 (2m x 20m) was located to test a gradiometer anomaly (Area C) lying within area
of increased resistance (no 12) (GSB 2002 paragraphs 4.6 and 5.12).
T23 (2m x 12) was located to test a linear anomaly identified by gradiometer survey
(Area D) and adjacent responses in area of increased resistance (no 12) (GSB 2002
paragraphs 4.7, 4.9, 5.12).
T24 (2m x 10m) was located to test amorphous gradiometer responses at the east end
of the affected area (GSB 2002 paragraph 4.9).

3.3 Fieldwork methodology

All trench positions were set out by differential GPS using coordinates derived from
best fit of the geophysical survey map to Ordnance Survey mapping. The initial
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 Celtic Manor Ryder Cup course extension, excavation at Great Bulmore (MM176),
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excavation to the uppermost archaeological deposits was carried out with two
mechanical excavators who removed the overburden of topsoil and colluvium using
wheeled JCBs fitted with 1.6m wide grading buckets. On reaching the uppermost
archaeological deposits all further excavation was carried out manually. In order to
protect the integrity of the remains (in the event of further excavation), once the form
of the remains was established, or the absence of any remains satisfactorily
confirmed, excavation ceased.
A written, drawn and photographic record was made of all archaeological deposits.
Contexts were recorded using a single continuous numbering system and context
numbers between 200 and 399 were allocated for the SAM area. Sections and plans
were hand-drawn at a scale of 1:10 for sections and 1:20 for plans. All significant
contexts were photographed using monochrome film and as digital images. The
excavated areas were located in relation to the National Grid and the site datum
related to Ordnance Survey datum derived from the BM located on the north facing
boundary wall outside Great Bulmore house, value 14.79m OD.
All classes of finds were retained, and will be cleaned and catalogued, in line with the
requirements of the Institute of Field Archaeologists’ Standard and Guidance for the
collection, documentation, conservation and research of archaeological materials
(2001).

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 Celtic Manor Ryder Cup course extension, excavation at Great Bulmore (MM176),
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4 Results
This chapter presents an overview of the results from the monument area; full results
will be published on completion of all archaeological excavation phases and after post
excavation analysis and specialist reports have been completed.
Twenty-four trenches (T1 to T24) were mechanically excavated over five days, in dry
conditions, to the uppermost limit of any archaeological remains. All trenches were
excavated as planned, except for T1 and T5; T1 was shorter than designed due to new
fencing presenting difficulty of access and the central section of T5 was interrupted
by another fence. Positive archaeological results were obtained from only five
trenches T4, T11, T22, T23 and T24 and a brief description of the findings, including
the results of the additional work requested by Cadw in T4 and T22 is presented
below.
Trench 4
A stone-lined cist burial was discovered toward the north limit of the trench at around
0.8m below ground level. The stone lined cist burial in T4 measured 1.47m in length,
was constructed of six sandstone slabs and orientated east/west (266 degrees national
grid bearing). No human remains were discovered in the chamber but the distribution
of nails discovered within the cist suggests that the body was contained in a wooden
coffin. This inhumation grave was similar to graves previously discovered to the west
of the site by Zienkiewicz in 1984.
Trench 11
The results from T11 were not as expected given the probable results expected from
the geophysical interpretation and also its proximity to a previously excavated trench
which contained Roman building remains (Vyner 1978). No significant structural
remains were discovered in the trench except for a large slab at the west, which was
similar to and thus a likely continuation of the feature termed a 'coping-stone'
previously discovered by Vyner in 1976. In addition, further structural evidence was
discovered at the east of the trench in the form of masonry rubble; this rubble
probably represented outlying debris from the building discovered in T22. Sherds of
Roman date were discovered throughout the whole length of the trench.
Trench 22 (photograph front cover)
The remains of a masonry building of Roman date were discovered at a depth of
around 0.3m below ground level in the western half of the trench. The building
appeared as a series of small rooms with walls varying in width from around 0.45m to
0.66m; some walls appeared to abut others, which may suggest alterations or
additions and thus possibly different building phases. A spread of tufa and broken
box-flue tile was noted amongst the rubble contained by walling in the westernmost
room and to the east a broken sandstone altar was discovered face down amongst
rubble.
Additional work determined the southern extent of the walling in T22 but not the
southern extent of its associated rubble; a fragment of a Roman inscribed tombstone
was also discovered during cleaning of the surfaces and it is considered likely that it
had been reused as structural stone.
No indication of burnt or fired material as suggested by the geophysics interpretation
was observed.
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 Celtic Manor Ryder Cup course extension, excavation at Great Bulmore (MM176),
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Trench 23
Masonry and roofing debris was discovered in T23. The masonry was discovered in
the trench section on the western side and comprised four dressed stone blocks
overlying its likely foundation of smaller stone. A spread of broken roofing material
of Roman date was recorded on the trench floor at around 1.1m below ground level. It
is more than likely that the masonry is also of Roman date because of the proximity of
the roofing debris.
Trench 24
No structural evidence was noted in T24 but the suggestion of disturbed cremation
burials were discovered on the trench floor at around 1m below ground level.
The other Trenches
The remaining trenches were excavated to varying depths and in most cases the
potential archaeological features suggested by interpretation of geophysical results
were shown to be differences between clays and natural outcropping rock, which
generally occurred close to the surface. In addition to the geological features, a
possible channel was discovered in T18. Occasional sherds of Roman date were
discovered in many of the trenches and their distribution is probably the result of later
farming activities.

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 Celtic Manor Ryder Cup course extension, excavation at Great Bulmore (MM176),
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5 Conclusions to date
The results of the archaeological evaluation confirmed the validity of the area status
as a scheduled ancient monument and showed that the trenches containing structural
evidence and scatters of pottery were those trenches located on the flatter ground at
the base of the hillslope and also closest to the known Roman road that passed
through Bulmore. The discovery of a building in T22 has proven that the Roman
settlement extended further east than was previously known; not enough evidence to
elucidate the nature of the structure in T23 was forthcoming but as cremation burials
and likely associated masonry were discovered further again to the east, then the
structure in T23 may suggest a funerary building. The location of the grave
discovered in T4 conforms to that of previously discovered cist graves found to the
west in that they are located behind the known buildings and part way up the
hillslope; there remains the possibility of discovering similar graves on the hillside.
An apparent lack of earthen graves is probably due to the difficulty in detecting cut
features in the colluvial subsoil.
Mention must also be made with regard to the interpretation of the geophysical survey
(Figure 2). Discoveries made during excavation did not accord well with the potential
offered by the survey and in some cases archaeological evidence was discovered
where negative results were indicated in the survey. It is accepted that geophysical
survey is but an aid, but a degree of caution must be exercised as it seems that ground
conditions in this location may prevent accurate interpretation of potential features.

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 Celtic Manor Ryder Cup course extension, excavation at Great Bulmore (MM176),
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6 Revised Scheduled Ancient Monument boundary

As a result of the discoveries made during the evaluation, the SAM boundary will be
adjusted based on the difference between the negative archaeological results obtained
on the hillslope and the positive results on the flatter ground. In addition a new area
will be scheduled to encompass an area of cremation burials and masonry discovered
in a field (no 3156) further to the east.

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 Celtic Manor Ryder Cup course extension, excavation at Great Bulmore (MM176),
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7 Post excavation
The archaeological evaluation work in the monument represents a part of the overall
development works for the new golf course. A full report will be issued after
completion of all fieldwork based on field observations, post excavation analysis and
specialist advice relating to the analyses of artefacts and samples. At present it is
likely that samples taken from T22 and the grave in T4 will require specialist advice.
Post-excavation assessment has yet to be undertaken. Post-excavation analysis will be
integrated with that for other excavations across the Ryder Cup Course. It is hopeful
that it may be possible to integrate the results with those from earlier work carried out
by the National Museum and Galleries of Wales, which are as yet unpublished.

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 Celtic Manor Ryder Cup course extension, excavation at Great Bulmore (MM176),
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Glover, P, and Oetgen, J, 1984, A Resistivity Survey at Bulmore, Gwent. Unpublished

report.

Marvell, A G, 1996, “Celtic Manor Golf Course”, Archaeology in Wales 1996, 36,
74-75

Mason, D J P, 1988, 'Prata Legionis' in Britain, Britannia XIX, 163-190

Rivet, A L F, and Smith, C, 1979, The Place Names of Roman Britain, Batsford,
London. 173-4

Tuck, M, 2004, “Abernant Farm”, Archaeology in Wales 2004, 43, 120-123.

Vyner, B G, 1978, Excavations at Great Bulmore, near Caerleon, in Boon (ed),

Cambrian Monographs and Collections Vol 1, 25-34.

Webster, P V, Hartley, K F, Marvell, A G, Sell, S H, 2004, A Roman pottery kiln at

Abernant Farm, Caerleon, Gwent, Journal of Roman Pottery Studies 11, 89-111.

Yates, A, 1999, WRU Centre of Excellence, Bulmore, Caerleon, Newport,

Archaeological assessment, Stage 3: field evaluation. GGAT report 99/077.

Zienkiewicz, J D, 1984, Excavations at Caerleon and Great Bulmore, Glamorgan-

Gwent Archaeological Trust Ann Rep 1983-4: Part 2, 2-30.

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