1. A previously unrecorded set of military practice trenches was identified on the south-east fringes of Clyne Common during Royal Commission aerial reconnaissance on the 14th and 17th March 2016. The main complex of trenches was identified at SS 603 897 on a tract of the eastern common bounded to the north by the B 4436 road and to the south and east by housing at Sunnybank. A further set (NPRN 421566) of trenches and an upstanding bank breastwork survives to the south-west at SS 600 895.

The trenches identified here extend across an area of some 230ms square on rough common land covered in bracken and bushes. Aerial reconnaissance has shown good preservation of 'zig-zag' and crenulated trench sections, both single lines and intersections, as well as more narrow slit trenches and lines of banks and ditches. It may be that the gravel pit or quarry on the western edge of the trench complex has a military training origin.

Clyne Common was used for military training in the early part of the twentieth century, and as a decoy site during the Second World War. Johnny Crawford (GGAT) has noted the following:

'Clyne Common features in two editions of The Cambrian in relation to military activity ? both pre-WW1. A 31st May 1907 edition details an attack and defence exercise carried out by members of the 3rd Battalion the GVR (Glamorgan Volunteer Regiment or Reserve) on Clyne Common. A similar exercise was carried out according to a July 1909 edition of the same paper, this time by the 6th Battalion the Welsh Regiment (probably the same personnel as the GVR but re-organised as 6th Welsh in 1909 by the creation of the Territorial Force that year).

Neither report mentions trenches but it is clear that the Common was used for military activity by Volunteer and Territorial Force units before WW1 and it is reasonable to expect that it may have been used during the war, resulting in practice trenches. However, trenches were also constructed by other contemporary military units prior to the First World War, so it is not impossible that the features date to training for an earlier period of conflict.'

T. Driver, RCAHMW, 18th April 2016

2. A community archaeology project taken forward by GGAT with funding from Cadw in the winter of 2016-17 established that the trenches are probably pre-First World War and may date from the time of the Second Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902. The earthworks are believed to be rare survivors and may be unique in South Wales. The discovery shows the continuing potential of the Royal Commission's flying programme.

Reference:
Crawford, J. 2017. The Call to Arms ? Clyne Common and Fairwood Common, Gower, Swansea. GGAT 137. GGAT report no. 2017/014. Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust (unpublished).