Bridgehunting and Archeology have one common trait, and that trait has to do with discovering an unknown bridge, one whose history requires some in-depth research, interviews and even some digging for any artefacts. In the end, the search for the facts are ones that are interesting and worth writing in the history books. It has to do with being curious and seeking information, even if it means doing some excavation work. 🙂
In the past two weeks in two separate podcasts, I had mentioned two discoveries of bridges that were built during the Roman Empire: There’s one near Duppach in the Eifel region of western Germany on the former road connecting Cologne and Trier, which could be older than the oldest crossing in existence in Germany. And then there is this one: a Roman crossing near Chepstow that crossed the Wye and used to connect England and Wales at their natural border before it was redrawn in modern times. This one was interesting because Romans were known for their advanced architecture and infrastructure which transported people and goods across long distances. It included the construction of bridges and aqueducts that crossed large rivers and valleys, some of which still exist today and have become tourist attractions.
I had an opportunity to interview Simon Maddison of the Chepstow Archeological Society about this discovery of the bridge. He’s the field leader of the team that has been excavating artefacts in and around Chepstow Castle and his team discovered this ancient bridge relic in the water. There were a lot of challenges in getting the parts out but there were some things that we can learn about this bridge- not just when it was built, but also the how and whys. Here is the dialog I had with him, hope you enjoy it, and feel free to comment in the section below.
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1. How long have you been an archeologist in general? What areas have you and your team(s) explored?
I am a retired engineer and started my transition to Archaeology in 2006 with study and field work. I finished my Masters at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL in 2016 focused on the distribution of Hillforts in Britain and Ireland. I was appointed an honorary research fellow at UCL in 2021, where I continue research work on hillforts. I have worked on excavations on a neolithic settlement site in Orkney from 2007-2013, two iron age hillforts, one at Bodfari in North Wales and currently at Nesscliffe in Shropshire. I lead field work for the Chepstow Archaeological Society. We have been working on an 18th Century building complex nearby since 2021 which may have medieval origins. We are now focused on the putative Roman crossing and its landscape context.
2. How long have you been doing archeological work at and around Chepstow Castle? And prior to discovering the bridge relicts, what artefacts have you and your team found so far?
As mentioned above, since 2021. We have uncovered an 18th Century cottage, a probable agricultural building, and an enigmatic tower base that might be a medieval mill. These are in woodland/ parkland a little to the north of Chepstow and associated with the grand house that was there. It is now a ruin.
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3. Tell us a bit about the castle and its history.
– that is a big one. Chepstow is on the Wye, close to the river Severn. The Wye forms the border to the southern part of Wales. It is a strategic location for accessing South Wales. The castle was started in 1068 shortly after the Norman conquest and is probably the oldest stone castle in Britain. Chepstow is on the border of the Welsh Marches, and the Marcher Lords were given a lot of autonomy by William to try and subjugate the Welsh. The original keep was extended with curtain walls and additional fortifications over the following 2-300 years and was also the site of a short siege during the Civil War. It was not slighted after this but repaired. This says something about its importance as a military location.
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4. How did your team come to finding the bridge relic?
We have been researching this for a number of years. There is a long supposition that there was a Roman crossing on or near this site, from antiquarian reports of timbers in the riverbed and finds of traces of Roman roads on either side of the crossing. These are recorded on the earliest OS maps, from around 1885. The timber structure we uncovered was excavated in 1911 (see below) and there are plenty of newspaper reports and some photographs in the local museum. There is also a plan of its location, which is not geolocated, and a very detailed drawing of the structure. Careful research work using the plan and modern GIS tools enabled us to identify the probable location of this bridge pier. In 2003 a TV programme was made about a timber structure on the other side of the river, which was located at extreme low tide, and timber samples were taken. Unfortunately, this was never written up, and we have not been able to locate any records. These included excavation of the Roman agger leading to the crossing, a geophysics survey and a topographical survey. Timber samples were taken, but the dendrochronological analysis was inconclusive. We did however manage to track down the C14 report, which gave a date range of late first century to early second century AD. This puts it firmly in the early period of Roman occupation, although does not give us a more precise date.
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5. When did you find the bridge relic?
We conducted a survey in May, which identified the feature investigated in 2003, and we were able to geolocate this and make some basic records. We also identified timbers on the other side of the river where we predicted from the 1911 records. We returned on 4th August to conduct excavation when there was an extreme low tide event.
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6. You mentioned during an interview that you had to remove portions of the bridge relic during low tide. Tell us more about it and how it was done.
The site was only exposed for just over 2 hours so it was extremely intense. Chepstow has one of the largest tidal ranges in the world. At its peak that is around 14m (44 feet). We drained the tidal pool first, by moving rocks and then worked around two or three of the upright timber stumps. We were able to quickly identify several horizontal beams and tenon/mortice joints. We exposed about one third of the upper part of the feature. The mud was extremely difficult to work in, and we needed the help of the local rescue association to get us to the site and move us around. Without their help it would have been extremely difficult and seriously dangerous. We had a dendro expert with us who selected particular timbers to sample and cut three slices out of different timbers with an electric chainsaw. These will be used for dendro analysis and C14 analysis. We want to confirm that the timbers are similar in date to those on the other side of the river. Although the scale of the timbers and the nature of construction suggest that it is Roman, we cannot assume this, and scientific dating will hopefully corroborate this assumption.
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7. You mentioned that the bridge was over 2000 years old. Why is that?
– Actually, it would be around 1900 years old. It would be consistent with the C14 date obtained for the other side of the river, and the occupation of South Wales by the Romans. See below.
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8. According to history, Britain and Wales became part of the Roman Empire in 43 AD after several attempts under Julius Caesar and later Augustus. The two remained under Roman rule until 410 AD, less than a century before the downfall of the western half of the Roman Empire. In your opinion, when do you think this bridge was built and why?
Try this for a start: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_conquest_of_Britain . Caesar made two expeditions to Southern Britain in the first century BC, but there was no conquest per se. Britain traded with the Roman empire and there were lots of engagement, but it was not part of the empire. Perhaps some of the southern tribes became ‘client kingdoms’. Augustus planned military campaigns to Brittain, but they never happened. It was in 43AD that Claudius invaded Britain and started its incorporation into the empire. It was a protracted process, and Scotland was never conquered despite more than one attempt. The conquest of Wales took some time, and there was resistance in South Wales by the local Silures people for over 20 years. The legionary fortress at Caerleon was established in 75 AD, and the tribal centre Venta Silurum at Caerwent, just a few miles west of Chepstow in the same year, once the Silures were subjugated.
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9. Roman bridges were primarily either stone arches or wooden beam bridges. Judging by what you found at the bridge ruins, what kind of bridge do you think was built?
– The foundations we have discovered are timber with the remnants of timber uprights coming out of the cutwater structure. There is no evidence of any stone structure. There never has been a stone bridge across the Wye around Chepstow, not in medieval times nor later. What we have identified creates many questions. We appear to have two bridge piers which are each approximately 40m from the riverbank and 40m from each other. This is way too long for bridge spans, so if they are the remnants of a bridge then there must have been more bridge piers. That it was timber may be due to the tidal range and the challenge of building anything so high and subject to so much tidal flow in each direction. Also, the approach from the Welsh bank is not obvious, although that on the English side could have been straightforward. It is conceivable that there never was a bridge but that they were supports for floating pontoons and a ferry, so the question is wide open.
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10. Apart from providing a connection between England and Wales, why was that bridge built? For what purpose was the bridge needed?
There are traces of Roman roads coming down from Gloucester towards Chepstow, and onwards from Chepstow to Caerwent, although the path through Chepstow is very uncertain. It seems highly likely that there was a crossing of some sort at this point in Roman times, based on this evidence. It may have been short-lived or it may have existed past the Roman times, we really don’t know. There certainly has been a bridge on or near the current bridge location in Chepstow since medieval times but there are no records of when it might first have been constructed. It would have provided the most direct route along level terrain close to the river Severn. It is possible that earlier routes were higher up, inland, with a crossing at e.g. Monmouth, where it is no longer tidal, and this may have been the earliest military route into south Wales, but this is conjecture. It is possible that the roads and crossings around Chepstow were to do with the military invasion or later after subjugation of the territory. If we can get dating with the precision of dendrochronology then this may help address some of these questions.
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11. Why was Chepstow such an important area during the Roman times and also afterwards?
Chepstow sits close to the mouth of the Wye. It has been an important trading location for goods coming down the Wye, from the hinterland, probably from prehistory and up until the 19th Century. In early times this would have included timber products for construction, shipbuilding and tanning, and in later times metals and wire from the proto-industrial metal working sites along the Wye at Tintern, for example. There are a number of hillforts close to the Wye not far from Chepstow which may have been to do with control of trade up and down the river, indicating its importance in prehistory. It is the lowest crossing point on the Wye and to this day still carries road traffic from Gloucester into South Wales. Its military importance is illustrated by the building of a very strong castle there shortly after the Norman invasion.
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12. An earlier explorer in 1911 discovered the bridge relics at the same spot your team discovered it. Explain more about it and why parts of it were removed.
This is a complex story, and I will summarise briefly. In 1911 an American, Orville Owen, came to Chepstow in the search for evidence that Francis Bacon wrote the works of Shakespeare. His efforts at decoding the texts suggested to him that there was a chest of lead buried in the banks of the Wye. He conducted a campaign of work that excavated pits in the intertidal zone of the river. We don’t know, but suspect he thought that the timber pier may have been to do with this. He certainly excavated it comprehensively, along with a number of other pits in the riverbank nearby. Some of the coffer dams are still visible. We have newspaper reports of the time, and a few photographs in the museum, as well as the plans mentioned above. We wanted to be sure that we had found what he uncovered, and that the timbers were not part of his excavation rigs. From what we found, it seems that part of the structure is no longer in situ, but it seems more likely that it has simply been damaged by flood events over the past 100 or so years, as it seems he did not back fill the excavation. His work was unsuccessful and nearly bankrupted him. Others followed in his footsteps in the 1920’s but sought other land based locations. Unfortunately, none of them left any records that we have found. Of course, none of them were looking for the Roman crossing …
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13. What are the next steps in the archeological research on this bridge relic?
We may return to record in detail the timbers and in particular the carpentry joints. Note that any attempt to reach the site requires considerable resource and planning, and time on site is extremely limited. Most importantly is the ongoing scientific dating analysis on the timber samples. Apart from this we are studying the landscape on either side of the river to understand how the road may have approached this crossing. We will also consider where any other bridge remains might be located in the intertidal zone, although the practicalities of trying to locate these may be insurmountable.
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14. Could you imagine building this bridge, mimicking the one from over 2000 years ago?
This is a tough one. We are researching Roman timber bridges and how they might have been constructed, in particular what the individual span lengths may have been. There is not a lot of evidence for Roman timber bridges, but plenty for stone ones. The remains on the English side are the tops of heavy timbers that have been piled into the river bed. That represents a significant piece of civil construction in its own right. Just to bring the timbers we have found on the Welsh side to the site would be some achievement, the structure is a lozenge of about 13m end to end and 6m across. The individual timbers are perhaps 10-12 inches square. They would have required barges, piling rigs and lots and lots of manpower, including finding, felling, transporting the timbers to a convenient location, and the floating them to site. Working in those tidal conditions would be a challenge today with modern equipment. Having said that it is amazing what can be done with large amounts of manpower, such as the Roman army had at its disposal.
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15. What is your favorite bridge in general? What bridge in the UK would you recommend a tourist seeing while visiting?
It’s a hard one. Probably the tubular suspension bridge at Saltash in Devon, constructed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It has his name on it. ‘IK Brunel, Engineer’. A totally original design. What a legacy! It still carries rail traffic today. The old road bridge in Chepstow is a very early iron bridge and is a very attractive site to visit.
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Thank you Simon for your help and also for the photos. Wishing you the best of luck and hope you can find out more about what you and your team have discovered. The BHC will keep you posted as well. And remember: Your bridge matters. ❤
The Bridgehunter's Chronicles 
