Welsh Journals

JUdtaeoIogia Cambreim* VOL. XCVII. PART I. ig42. EXCAVATIONS AT FFRIDD FALDWYN CAMP, MONTGOMERY, 1937-39. By B. H. ST. J. O'NEIL, M.A., F.S.A. A. THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE DISTRICT. (Fig. 1.) THE neighbourhood of Montgomery was in ancient times one of considerable importance by reason of certain geographical features, which conditioned the strategy of the inhabitants or rulers of the district. Before the multiplication of crossings of the river by means of bridges, which is a quite modern development, the Severn presented a considerable barrier to intercourse between the peoples on either side, which in normal circumstances was only crossed or penetrated at a few well-defined points. One of the most important of these early crossings of the Severn is the ford, which was known in the Middle Ages as Rhyd Chwima, and is now marked on the Ordnance Survey maps as Rhyd Whiman. When this reach of the upper Severn formed the boundary between England and Wales,. representatives of the two warring nations frequently met at Rhyd Whiman to sign a truce, as in 1259 and 1267 (the Treaty of Montgomery).1 It figures also as a boundary mark in such cases as that of a dispute between the dioceses of St. Asaph and Hereford in 1288, when the Severn between the ford called Rydwymma near Mont- gomery to the ford at Shrawardyn was declared to be the boundary of the latter diocese.2 It was certainly not the only ford on this reach of the river, since the presence of early castles of Norman type close to the bank on one side or the other between Rhyd Whiman and Welshpool shows that other crossings were in use, but it seems probable that it was the best or most convenient for traffic passing from the central Marches to adjacent parts of North Wales. The reason for its convenience lay in its situation at the end of a spur of high land, which projects north-westwards from the main mass of the hills to the south and ends on the bank of the river. This is particularly noticeable to one who stands on Corndon Hill and looks westward. Thus it came about that successive immigrants or invaders of the district sought to control the southern or eastern side of the ford by building a fortification in the style characteristic of their time at a suitably commanding position. 1 J. E. Lloyd, History of Wales, pp. 726, 739. 2 Register of Richard Swinfield (Cant. and York Soc., VI), pp. 204-7. For this reference the writer is indebted to Dr. Rose Graham. F.S.A.