Yesterday evening, Waddelove's son Adrian, who assisted his father and who is also an archaeologist in his own right, presented his evidence to the Ruthin Local History Society.
Roman Roads
The starting point is the Roman road network (which, at the presentation, was a tad confusing) and Roman pottery finds near the hospital.
It was in 1981 that Roman pottery was found near the Rhuthun/Ruthin hospital site. It resulted in a view that there was some sort of settlement in Rhuthun and even the possibility of a marching camp near Lôn Fawr and Corwen Road. This has never been established. Settlements need roads. Waddelove contends that the Rhuthun settlement was dated earlier than that in Chester because of the lie of the Roman road network. As there was no Chester, Waddelove suggested that the road west to Rhuthun was from Brychdyn/Broughton via Yr Wyddgrug/Mold.
There is evidence of such a thoroughfare on the old road between Rhuthun and Yr Wyddgrug where there are remains of terraces, a gap in the tree line—caused by the stone of the road where either no trees would grow or later landowners saw it as a natural place to build a gateway. After the Bwlch itself, rather than twist down at the early stages of the current road's descent, there is evidence of cuttings and a straight drop, following a modern-day footpath.
The Roman road takes its course via current footpaths to the cricket pavilion at Schola Ruthinensis thence to the point behind Ysgol Brynhyfryd where once in the 19th century stood a trig point. Thereafter, the road moves towards the Old Station Yard roundabout and after a change of direction towards Dyffryn Services.
To the rear of Dyffryn Services, there is evidence of a cutting where the road north was, now considerably infilled. During the flood alleviation work there, more evidence emerged.
Parc Brynhyfryd
Waddelove believes that Parc Brynhyfryd was a fort of some significance. The land falls from Parc Brynhyfryd to the hospital site & Llanrhydd, making the site naturally defendable. Similarly, at Fron Haul, there is a considerable land difference and there remains a possibility of another Roman site.
Waddelove based his evidence regarding the fort on a number of finds. First, there were two gullies almost in parallel, suggesting drainage for a building. There were post holes, suggesting exterior and partitioned walls. The Waddeloves believed that all this suggested a barrack block. The Clwyd Powys trust felt that these were merely agricultural but the Waddeloves felt that the layout was too formal for that. Waddelove compared the possible layout with other similar sites, notably another in Cymru, and there was a match.
Waddelove identified a deep pit with mixed fillings which was a possible latrine. The Clwyd Powys trust believed it to be a sandpit.
Also on Parc Bfrynhyfryd, some land has sunk and this was further evidence, according to Waddelove, of post holes. These post holes, he suggested, were for towers or stockades and this overcame the argument put forward against the fort: that there was no evidence of any defensive work (which otherwise would have been odd, given it was allegedly a fort).
Waddelove also found evidence of a W-shaped ditch (in his view a defensive feature that the Clwyd Powys people believed was a car track). At Fron Haul, there was a triple ditch of some 50 yards long.
Given the type of pottery found at Brynhyfryd, Waddelove felt that the site was occupied somewhere between and 210 or 220 AD and, although he didn't say so, this makes it firmly Romano-British. Pottery repairs suggested one pot was used for some time.
Also found on the housing estate was the cremated remains of a young adult male, or so the Waddeloves contended. The urn was made about 70 AD, four years before Chester was founded. In what circumstances would a young adult male be in barbarian territory if not a soldier?
Ruthin Castle
Some have suggested that under the castle were remains of the Rhuthun Roman fort. This is based on evidence of ditches and gullies, all of which are less substantial than the finds at Parc Brynhyfryd. One ditch was some six rather than Brynhyfryd's 50 yards long.
Here, Waddelove was careful. As an academic, he had tried to balance the arguments and evidence. On the balance of probabilities, he said, Parc Brynhyfryd was the Roman (fort) site, not the Castle.
Wouldn't it be great to think he were correct. The Clwyd Pwoys Archaeological Trust thinks otherwise.
The Future of the Past
Aerial photography of land adjacent to Parc Brynhyfryd (to its east, at the junction of Llanrhydd and Maes y Llan Road, by the steps up to the footpath that leads to the playing fields, leisure centre & school) suggests that this is an area of interest and one that could prove or disprove Waddelove's hypothesis if only it were excavated.
Similarly, the green at Parc Brynhyfryd might hold a key. Some suggest that its size means that it was intentionally left because it was too difficult to build upon because of the nature and extent of the remains beneath it. Yet, Waddelove felt that the size was determined by the planning process, not possible archaeology. It was possible, perhaps, that the developer extended the size of the green because of what lies beneath. Yet, because of the green's untouched size, here again might be concrete proof of the fort.
Finally, it was Roger Edwards himself who suggested that Rhuthun's fort was not under the Castle but Parc Brynhfryd. The answer, he felt, was in the use of the fields before development. There was a large black building thereon, which was a laundry. The laundry was fed by an easily accessible artesian spring and this could have been what attracted Romans to this particular site in the first place—an easily won water surcharge. And, yes, there is a well at the Castle but, surely, this came later and, unlike at Parc Brynhyfryd, had to be dug.
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History