CPAT Regional Sites & Monuments Record

PRN 38257 - Ffrith Roman site, buildings V and VI, "Arosfa" & "Emdyklin", excavation 1967-69

Excavations behind a house named 'Emdyklin', in the rear garden of 'Arosfa' and in an area to the NW in advance of housing development in 1967-9. Undertaken by Mr G Bevan after joining a group of 'weekend collectors'. The finds were divided amongst the group. Mr Bevan's finds and records were deposited in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester after his death in 1983. There are more finds in the possession of the residents of Ffrith. Only very basic section drawings were made, and the finds were not related to the stratification so must be thought of as unstratified, and cannot be relied upon to provide anything but the most basic dating sequence.

The excavations revealed complex stratigraphy of a wooden building overlain by a masonry building. The timber building (building V PRN 88737) was on the site c.AD80 to c.AD120-125. Around AD120-125 it was demolished and a masonry building constructed (building VI PRN 100024). The later building comprised at least seven rooms, one of which had a large apsidal end. It is postulated that the building was a bath-house or a bath-suite attached to a large masonry building (Blockley, K, 1989a).

Excavations in 1968/9 produced not only Roman material, but also, from sites E, G and H a total of 103 lithics, both flint and chert. Microliths, flakes, blades and chips, a possible burin and a core. These are or could all be Mesolithic but the presence of two fragmentary leaf arrowheads reveals an early Neolithic component to the scatter, some of which was stratified, though not necessarily in prehistoric levels.

Written up in typescript form with comments from Roger Jacobi. Not published though the Roman excavations have appeared in print (Blockley, K, 1989a) (CPAT Lithics project, 2002).

Sources:-
Blockley, K , 1989 , "Excavations on the Romano-British Settlement at Ffrith, Clwyd, 1967-9 ", Flintshire Historical Society Journal 32 , 135-65 .

Finds:-
2 / Bone / Bobbin / Roman / / () - SINGLE PERFORATION THROUGH BOTH SIDES
1 / Bone / Pin / Roman / / () - SINGLE COLLAR, BROKEN POINT. GREEN TYPE A2.2
2 / Bone / Pin / Roman / / () - HEADS SURMOUNTED BY SERIES OF COLLARS. GREEN TYPE A3
1 / Bronze / Coin / Roman (1st century AD) / / () - AS OF VESPASIAN/TITUS (AD 69-79)
1 / Bronze / Coin / Roman (2nd century AD) / / () - DUPONDIUS OF TRAJAN (AD 103-11)
1 / Bronze / Coin / Roman (2nd century AD) / / () - AS OF ?FAUSTINUS THE ELDER (AD 141-61)
1 / Bronze / Coin / Roman (2nd century AD) / / () - AS OF ?MARCUS AURELIUS OR COMMODUS. ?FORGED AD161-192
1 / Bronze / Coin / Roman / / () - ?fAKE DUPONDIUS OF ?MARCUS AURELIUS OR COMMODUS. ?FORGED
1 / Bronze / Coin / Roman / / () - ? AS
1 / Bronze / Coin / Roman (3rd century AD) / / () - ANTONINIANUS OR GALLIENUS (AD 265-68)
1 / Copper Alloy / Bar / Roman / / () - FLATTENED CURVING BAR, BROKEN AT BOTH ENDS
1 / Copper Alloy / Belt plaque / Roman / / () - ATTACHMENT STUD ON REAR.
1 / Copper Alloy / Belt plate / Roman / / () - OPEN-WORK MILITARY BELT PLATE. AD130-230 ?
1 / Copper Alloy / Brooch / Roman / / () - HEADSTUD BROOCH. ENAMELLED. ?IRON PIN
1 / Copper Alloy / Brooch / Roman / / () - PIN FROM COILED PIN BROOCH
1 / Copper Alloy / Brooch / Roman / / () - MEDALLION FROM MEDALLION BROOCH. 14MM X 11MM. ENAMELLED.
1 / Copper Alloy / Buckle / Roman / / () - BUCKLE WITH IRON TONGUE
1 / Copper Alloy / Buckle / Roman / / () - IRON TONGUE, 55MM LONG
1 / Copper Alloy / Fragment / Roman / / () - DOMED FRAGMENT WITH CURVING EDGE, 4MM THICK, c.80MM DIAM.
1 / Copper Alloy / Lock-bolt / Roman / / () - WITH TRIANGULAR CUT-OUTS
1 / Copper Alloy / Moulded tube / Roman / / () - 11MM X 9MM. MEDIAL RIB
1 / Copper Alloy / Nail cleaner / Roman / / () - FINGER-NAIL CLEANER WITH BROKEN ENDS, TWISTED WIRE SUSPENSION LOOP
1 / Copper Alloy / Ring / Roman / / () - 19MM DIAM. VISIBLE JOINT
1 / Copper Alloy / Seal box / Roman / / () - COMPLETE LEAF-SHAPED SEAL BOX, 30MM LONG, TINNED TOP.
1 / Copper Alloy / Spoon handle / Roman / / () - 99MM LONG, POINTED END AND TINNED SURFACE
1 / Copper Alloy / Stud / Roman / / () - DOME-HEADED WITH SQUARE-SECTIONED SHANK
1 / Copper Alloy / Stud / Roman / / () - HEAD WITH CENTRAL HOLE FOR TACK
1 / Copper Alloy / Tie ring / Roman / / () - TIE RING FROM LORICA SEGMENTATA
1 / Copper Alloy / Tie ring / Roman / / () - TIE RING WITH FLATTENED ENDS
2 / Flint / Arrowhead / Neolithic / / () - fragmentary leaf shaped
1 / Flint / Burin / Mesolithic / / () -
1 / Flint / Core / Mesolithic / / () -
101 / Flint / Flake / Mesolithic / / () - flakes, blades and chips
6 / Glass / Bead / Roman / / () - BLUE-GREEN GLAS BEAD; 4 MELON BEADS; 1 GREEN GLASS BEAD.
1 / Iron / Knife / Roman / / () - BLADE 65MM LONG, RECTANGULAR-SECTIONED TANG 74MM LONG. MANNING TYPE 11A
1 / Iron / Needle / Roman / / () - SEWING NEEDLE WITH BROKEN POINT
1 / Lead / Bar / Roman / / () - BENT BAR
1 / Lead / Off-cut / Roman / / () - 40MMX25MM
2 / Lead / Waste / Roman / / () -
1 / Lead / Weight / Roman / / () - ROUNDED LUMP OF LEAD; 40MM DIAM, 28MM TALL, FLATTENED BASE, 250GMS
8 / Metal / Coin / Roman / / () -
1 / Plaster / Wall plaster / Roman / / () - RED STRIPE ON WHITE BACKGROUND (BORDER ?). GREEN STRIPE (PLANT STEM ?)
1 / Pottery / Amphora / Roman / / () - 1 DRESSEL 20 BODY SHERD
1 / Pottery / Castor ware / Roman / / () - 1 BEAKER
8 / Pottery / Mortaria / Roman / / () - NUMEROUS SHERDS, 8 ILLUSTRATED IN TYPE SERIES. DATE AD80-180
16 / Pottery / Sherd / Roman / / () - NUMEROUS SHERDS, 16 ILLUSTRATED IN TYPE SERIES. EARLY-MID C2ND.
30 / Pottery / Sherd / Roman / / () - NUMEROUS SHERDS, 30 ILLUSTRATED IN TYPE SERIES. LATE C1ST - EARLY C2ND
162 / Pottery / Sherd / Roman / / () - 174 SHERDS REPRESENTING 162 VESSELS. MAJORITY MANUFACTURED EARLY C2ND. 1 SHERD AD160-90.
11 / Pottery / Vessel / Roman / / () - NUMEROUS SHERDS, 11 ILLUSTRATED IN TYPE SERIES. LATE C1ST - EARLY C2ND
1 / Silver / Coin / Roman / / () - FORGED DENARIUS OF VESPASIAN
1 / Silver / Ring / Roman / / () - WIDE HOOP EXPANDING AT SHOULDERS. HENIG TYPE V. GLASS INTAGLIO WITH CLUB (HERCULES) BETWEEN 2 PALMS (VITORY)
1 / Stone / Spindlewhorl / Roman / / () - PURPLE SANDSTONE, 33M DIAM, 10MM THICK, 7MM PERFORATION
2 / Tile / Stamped tile / Roman / / () - PILAE TILES STAMPED LEG XX VV
999 / Tile / Tile / Roman / / () - BOX FLUE TILES. I TILE SHAPED TO SUGGEST VAULTED ROOF

record created 31/12/1993 AG93 - copyright CPAT , last updated 16/07/2004
The above data are supplied by CPAT in partnership with its Local Authorities and the partners of END, © CPAT SMR partnership, 2005 (and in part © Crown, 2005 - as indicated)

CM - 11/04/2005 ( 16:41:17 ) - HTML file produced from CPAT's Regional SMR
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