July 2025: The medieval quays

In July 2025 Heneb, the Trust for Welsh Archaeology, announced what the excavations beside Island House had found. Under the garden lay a tidal inlet below the castle, filled in from the twelfth century. On top of it stood stone quays, built on burgage plots in the thirteenth or fourteenth century. As the inlet silted up, each new quay was built further out.

Heneb describes it as the first medieval quay to be excavated in Wales. The same ground held a large medieval hall house, and pottery that came from Bristol and the French coast.

The excavation was commissioned by Island House Restoration Ltd and supervised by Ken Murphy. The dating is provisional while Heneb’s final report is written. The full story is on The Quay page.