Conwy’s forgotten fortress – Canovium Roman Fort

Nestled on the banks of the Conwy river, overlooked by the high mountains of Eryri (Snowdonia), lies a tiny walled churchyard and chapel. What’s unusual about this is that it sits within a 2000 year old Roman Fort.

The Roman auxiliary fortress of Canovium, or Caerhun, at St Mary’s Church in the Conwy Valley is a bit of a hidden gem. You don’t even need to blink and you’d miss it. Although some of the ancient earthworks are still visible to the eye, they could so easily be mistaken for old field boundaries.

The fort itself dates back to AD75 and is an ‘auxiliary fort’. Often these auxiliary forts are regarded as the legionary fortresses’ lesser known siblings. But actually these places would have been fascinating. In my recent video during a recent site visit to Canovium Roman fort, I speak about what ‘auxilia’ means, and exactly who would have been stationed there and why.

Canovium, or Caerhun (or even sometimes Kanovium!) was the penultimate station in a long line of fortresses across the breadth of Wales. They ran from Chester to Caernarfon, where the conserved remains of the Roman fort of Segontium can still be seen today, overlooking the Menai Strait and the Irish Sea. A very strategic line of defence, especially as it gave them access to the fertile lands of Ynys Mon, Anglesey.

The fort here had two phases of construction, and even has evidence for some really interesting activity outside of the fort walls, which I talk about in my video.

The site is absolutely beautiful and sits just off one of the main routes through the Conwy Valley. The church itself has an interesting history too. It is associated with Aberconwy and Maenan Abbeys, and is still used to this day. In my video you may be able to hear the sound of a strimmer in the background – a groom getting the grounds looking pristine just before his upcoming nuptials!