DetectingWales.com

DIG IT and i went detecting down the foreshore by portskewett  last Saturday with high hopes of finding some roman ??? ??? ::),anyway we got covered in the muck,that was all we really had to show for it ;D hard going the tide was out we did find plenty of the old lead fishing weight and bits .i did take a few photos at the end of the day we did have a laugh DIG IT and i, so back to the drawing board as they say............... ;)

"and there's more "

one more  ;) ;D

In the 70's when detecting was in its infancy a mate of mine detected the foreshore at Portskewett and he found so many Roman coins in a small area that he reported his finds to Newport museum, turns out that he'd found a previously unknown Roman river crossing  :)

Nice pics.Pity about the finds or lack of. I've seen with my own eyes some really nice finds that have come from the area. Like Caerleon and surrounding areas....I never find anything Roman in a Roman "Hotspot".

I wonder if that was the same friend ritchie a good mate of mine (will evans) had many
a roman bronze usually small denomination from that site...but over the years the mud
has taken over and its like walking in thick black porridge now a horrid place to try and
detect...very dangerous when the tide turns too.
It took really low tides to hit the roman bronzes and the area to walk to the best spots
are now deep in mud.
I would never go back there now as i regard it as too risky some of the mud is very deep
and you get stuck in that with the tide coming....well it doesnt bear to think about it lol.

A nice picnic spot above the estuary but a bit smelly lol ie the mud stinks...

Regards PaulB. 8)

Paul my mate who found the coins is Roger Appleby, I think he gave up 'tecting years ago.

I know what you mean about the smell mate.phew!! lol. :)

I think there is a layer of peat and the coins settle onto that. Then however much mud is on top is the question. Too much and youa are stuffed.

I think your right Jon lots of Mud mate !i think thats why we struggled to find targets i did find 2 pennys 1 looked georgian very worn the other was 1967 in very clean condition found in the mud.When i dug down under the mud i seen the black peat layer that the roman would be in there is just too much mud on the top too detect through >:( and also it wasnt very enjoyable detecting it was sheer hard work for very little ;)

There is some evidence of a Roman villa, with possible British Iron Age antecedents. There are also remains of a late Roman temple on Portskewett Hill, and many coins of the 3rd and 4th centuries have been found.

Here is a pic of the Time Team dig in the area. One or two of you may recognise the detectorist.

I recognise that little shrimp on the right.lol. ;D ;D

Having detected on the portskewett fore once in the past me and my friend tried to no avail to find some roman never detect alone here as Jon already mentioned  it can be a death trap the mud clings to you  :o went there in wellies come off in bloody moonboots  :o to top it all at the end of the day a local informed us we were in the wrong place to find roman ??? ???mole

yeah i did go there a couple of times,  hard work there in the deep sticky mud,  but i did find a copper roman there which was bitchaman coated, twas my first Roman coin. A Vespasian 67 - 69 ad

Boy thats early. Might have been lost later but it shows that the area has a lot of Roman history. The range of coins covers 1st to 4th century. Pity about the damn mud

ive been on the roman port many many times and itsnot were people think it is the doc from pontypool found it first. in the storms of 1984 which washed all the mud away he found two roman gold coins a silver roman brooch and many many coins ive seen them he still got them he told me were exactley were the port is ive found about 20 roman coins there and two silver denarius going back today for my beach find of the mouth at the scan club were it is the mud is not that deep a bit messy but ok im still looking for that last gold roman  ::) you never know regards (phil)

Probably in the wrong place kev we are going to have to Torture phil into giving us some answers to the whereabouts of the roman crossing :(

I got the directions for Portskewett fron The Doc. I just think the mud had reclaimed the area Phil.

i will take you idie no worrys  ;)

Good luck to any that venture there...i have detected many a time on that site
also before the mud conditions got worse...i have seen roman bronzes...small denomonations found in the gulleys at really low tides...there was an area a bit further out
through the quagmire that started producing roman also but the mud has got so bad on the route to it i didnt think it was worth the risk to pursue.

On a personal point i got stuck in the mud toppled over and fell catching my knee
on a rock causing ligament damage etc. and unbeknown to me a small bleed occured resulting in a pulmonary embolism which almost brown breaded me .
I am now more or less recovered but did lose a portion of my right lung where the
clot formed so hence my reluctance to go back there!!

This was about three years ago...did pick up a georgian tanner from in the rocks
at the old jetty point...other than that fishing weights and modern dosh etc.

I can just about remember a dig by the gwent metal detector club there many moons ago when i attended on my motobike...big mistake as i was like a mobile mudball coming home lol.

Good luck to all and HH PaulB. 8)