Caradoc

Roman Invasion
Govenorship
Various sites
My Speculation
Opposing Forces
The Battle
Sites To Visit
Cefn Carnedd
Photographs
Aerial Photos
Bibliography

Other Sites to Visit

As well as the position of the battlefield given above, and the site put forward by Colonel Burne, let us look at other possible locations that have been mooted over the last one hundred and fifty years or so. The reader will also find sites given in Colonel Burne's own account of the battle.³³

Caradoc's forces, because of being easily surrounded, as I have said, would not have occupied Coxall Knoll. The main reason why this has been seen as the site of the battle is because of the Iron Age Hill-Fort situated on Coxall Knoll itself. There can be no doubt that the fort would have been very effective in guarding the crossing points of the river Teme in this area, but would have proved ineffective against the skills of the Roman military machine; however do go and visit this site as it is close to the proposed crossing point of Scapulas army, and well worth a visit in its own right.

Holloway Rocks, two miles north -east of Knighton is another site put forward as the battlefield. Anyone walking the road from The Stud Farm, just off the A488 near Coed detton, towards Stowe will soon realize that no commander in his right mind would have expected troops to ascend the steep climb up to Holloway Rocks in the face of determined opposition, to say nothing of having to make the climb in full armour and to be expected to fight a pitched battle! The main reason for considering Holloway Rocks is that they served to secure Caradoc's right flank against any Roman turning movement.

The site chosen by Colonel Burne has been dealt with in the text, however not only should we take into account the fact that his battlefield is far too large for the forces engaged, (It is almost twice the size of the position taken-up by the Allies at Waterloo) but also the fact that no Roman Marching Camps have been found in this area; these are almost always the precursor of a legion or an army securing itself before giving battle.

Finally it must be remembered that my own ideas concerning the site of the battle are, like others, only speculative. The two Roman marching camps at Brampton Bryan and Walford have not been dated and may indeed be of a later date than Caradoc's last battle; however, even if this is proven to be the case we should still consider why the Roman's would have concentrated such a large force in this area, it maybe that there was another encounter at or around these sites that has as yet not been discovered.

G.J.Morris,
December 2000.

33 Colonel A.H.Burne,'Battlefields of England', Vol II, page 12