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Flemingston

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NPRN404651
Map ReferenceST07SW
Grid ReferenceST0145070580
Unitary (Local) AuthorityThe Vale of Glamorgan
Old CountyGlamorgan
CommunitySt Athan
Type Of SiteCAUSEWAYED ENCLOSURE
PeriodNeolithic
Description
Plough-levelled circular enclosure with inner, close-set, bivallate concentric ditches and wide-spaced single outer enclosure, sited on north-facing level promontory north of the village of Flemingston. The main concentric enclosure measures approx. 154m diameter externally and 135m diameter internally, with the ditches set approx. 5-6m apart. The partial outer enclosure lies 23-24m away from the inner concentric enclosure. The enclosure ditches have regular gaps in the circuit and are very similar in morphology and general appearance to the Corntown enclosure (NPRN 300311) to the west, dated through prolific surface finds to the early Neolithic. Discovered during RCAHMW aerial reconnaissance on 24th July 2006, with air photo mapping by T. Driver (2007) held in NMR archive.

A field visit by T. Driver on 13th December 2007 showed that the setting is a broad, level promontory with a slightly domed summit which is occupied by the enclosure. The promontory extends into the valley of the River Thaw, which drops away to the north and east, and commands nearly 360 degree panoramic views of the surrounding region. The enclosure in the main is entirely plough-levelled with east-west earthworks of former ridge and furrow or drainage cuttings visible in the field containing the southern part of the enclosure. Vestigial earthworks survive around the eastern and northern peripheries of the promontory where the enclosure extends beyond the boundaries of the cultivated fields. Thus, on the east side faint earthworks no more than 10-20cm high can be discerned on sloping ground in the angle between the two main fields; on the north side (at ST 0147 7066) the enclosure runs onto the grassy hillslopes beyond the field and 10-20cm high earthworks of the bivallate defences can similarly be made out here. This is therefore the only probable causewayed enclosure in the Vale of Glamorgan to preserve some surface topography.

T. Driver, RCAHMW, 17 December 2007.