Roman settlement found at Castle Green Homes Hawarden site

In December 2025, archaeologists from Heneb: The Trust for Welsh Archaeology, working on behalf of Castle Green Homes, uncovered the remains of a previously unknown Roman settlement at Hawarden.

The discovery occurred as a result of works to construct 300 homes at Castle Green Homes’s Gladstone Grange development.

Outline of a 3rd century Romano-British building found at the site. (Image: Heneb)

The scheme, on a site allocated for housing by Flintshire Council Council, was assessed for its potential archaeological value by the developer prior to commencement of the project, with Heneb commissioned by them as part of this process.

Ground geophysics analysis of the site identified buried structures and historic activity, and Heneb completed a full investigation of the archaeological remains prior to any development of the site.

That work has been fully completed, with the findings identifying previously undocumented Roman activity in the area.

Large Roman Brooch which was found at the site. (Image: Heneb)

Although the site overlooks Chester, home to the major Roman legionary fortress of Deva Victrix, very little evidence of Roman activity has previously been recorded in this part of Flintshire.

Heneb said the landscape surrounding Chester has often been characterised as a largely undeveloped hinterland, making this discovery particularly significant.

Lead spindle whorl items found at the site. (Image: Heneb)

The remains were identified during archaeological monitoring undertaken before and during the early stages of a new Castle Green Homes housing development at Gladstone Way.

Excavations revealed a 2,000-year-old Romano-British industrial settlement preserved within a network of plot boundaries and drainage systems.

Casting mould of a Roman Brooch (Image: Heneb)

The settlement appears to extend westwards beneath the area now known as ‘Big Mancot’. This unexpected discovery adds an important new chapter to the story of Mancot and its surrounding landscape.

Denari of Emperor Commodus AD 192 found at the site. (Image: Heneb)

The settlement appears to have developed over several phases. Timber-built houses, some possibly dating to the end of the Iron Age, were replaced by elongated, semi-rectangular buildings by the 3rd century AD.

One of the site’s most notable features is the unusually large assemblage of Roman metalwork, including a wide variety of brooches, which were both decorative and highly functional elements of Roman clothing.

A brooch found at the site. (Image: Heneb)

Substantial evidence also suggests that the settlement’s inhabitants manufactured these brooches, probably as part of a wider industrial supply network serving both the local community and Chester.

The objects are currently undergoing detailed analysis and conservation. Once this work is complete, they will be transferred to Flintshire Museum Services, joining its growing collection of Roman archaeology from the county, with plans for a public display in the near future.

This discovery forms part of an emerging pattern of Romano-British sites identified across north-east Wales in recent years.

Together, these sites suggest that Roman Wales was far more complex and interconnected than previously understood.

Continued research will be essential to deepen our understanding of the people, industries and communities that once thrived in the region.