Points of interest

Llangadog is situated in the heart of the Towy Valley half way between Llandeilo and Llandovery. A village with a population of approximately 1,000 people it is situated on the western edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park and is surrounded by beautiful rolling hills and pasture with stunning views towards the Black Mountain.

Llangadog Common has been unenclosed grazing since the 13th Century. At the edge of the common is an old tollhouse that ran a brisk trade in the 19th Century when it charged farmers for collecting lime from the old quarries of the Black Mountain.

Carreg-Sawdde Common lies on the flood plain of the Afon Sawdde at approximately 45m. The A4069 (turnpike) road crosses part of the south-east side of the common. A B-road from Llangadog to Felindre crosses the common towards its southern end, and the Afon Sawdde over a 20th Century bridge (occupying the site of an earlier crossing). The common is open, rough grazing land apart from a small ‘island’ of tightly-packed buildings in the centre.

The Roman villa at Llysbrychan comprises the remains of a building complex, which dates to the RomanoBritish period (c. AD 70-410). Indications are that the site may have been a rural villa built to emphasise the high status, wealth and Romanised cultural values of the landed elite of the local native tribe. Excavated in 1961 remains extend over an area about 10m x 3m and comprise the foundations of two or possibly three rooms, part of a north east to south west-range, the walls of dressed stone banded with lime mortar and the floors of opus signinum.

On one floor were two pillars of soft red tiles likely to be supports for a raised floor. A room of later date abutted on the south side, the buildings were built round a courtyard and the complex was of considerable size. Finds included hypocaust tiles, painted wall plaster, roofing slates and two fragments of mortarium. Pottery and coins suggest occupation from circa 200 AD to the late 4th Century. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of Romano-British rural settlement and socio-economic organisation. The feature forms an important element within the wider context of RomanoBritish society in Wales and retains significant archaeological potential. Villas are often part of a larger cluster of rural and urban settlements and their importance can further enhanced by their group value.

The Heart of Wales Line Trail is a 140-mile long distance walk that weaves between stations along the Heart of Wales railway line. It’s already open across Shropshire, much of Carmarthenshire and the City of Swansea.

Garn Goch Hill Fort is one of the largest Iron Age forts in the whole of Wales. It is an unforgettable place that brings the power and ingenuity of the Iron Age to life.

Garn Goch, a major Iron Age settlement site near the town of Llandeilo, nowadays feels quiet and remote. However approximately 2500 years ago this hilltop would have been a thriving centre, where people lived and worked, food was grown and goods were produced and were traded.

Its large stone defences, a large rubble bank today, once stood as stone-faced ramparts 10m high and 5m thick, and would have offered protection from natural dangers such as wild wolves and against other humans during periods of warfare.

There were two hill forts on the site. A smaller fort, Y Gaer Fach, sat in the shadow of its much larger and impressive neighbour Y Gaer Fawr.

The smaller fort, Y Gaer Fach, encloses an area of around 1.5 hectares, survives in a ruinous state and appears to be incomplete, perhaps abandoned part way through a programme of rebuilding that was never completed.

This fort is dwarfed in comparison with the nearby Y Gaer Fawr, with its enormous stone ramparts and at least six separate entrances. At around 11.2 hectares this is one of the largest hill forts in the whole of Wales.

In AD70 the Romans reached the Towy Valley, one of their critical marching routes through Wales. The inhabitants of Garn Goch must have fought hard to defend their land.

But inevitably the Roman conquest was completed and the communities of Wales gradually became part of the new imperial province of Britannia, or Roman Britain, which was to last for the next

300 years.