A Forgotten Roman Village in Wales Made Enamel Brooches Beside Chester’s Legion Fortress

Before builders began work on 300 new homes at Mancot in Flintshire, northeast Wales, archaeologists found a Roman settlement that nobody knew about. It dates to about 2,000 years ago and sits close to Deva Victrix, the Roman fortress at Chester. The people who lived there appear to have made colorful enamelled brooches, probably for a supply network that served the local community and Chester.

A settlement in an area thought to be empty

Heneb, the Trust for Welsh Archaeology, carried out the work for the developer, Castle Green Homes. The site is part of the Gladstone Grange housing development, which Flintshire Council had allocated for homes. Geophysical survey first flagged buried structures. Archaeologists then uncovered the remains in December 2025, while monitoring the ground before and during the early stages of construction. Heneb has since finished its full investigation and announced the results on 9 November 2026.

The finding matters because little Roman activity had been recorded in this part of Flintshire before. The site overlooks Chester, where the Romans built Deva Victrix in the 70s AD. The fortress first housed Legio II Adiutrix, and later Legio XX Valeria Victrix. It covered about 25 hectares and ranks among the largest legionary fortresses in Britain. The new settlement shows that people lived and worked in the countryside close to it.

Houses, ditches and plot boundaries

The team found house plots, plot boundaries and drainage ditches. A large drainage ditch formed the eastern edge of most buildings. The settlement appears to have grown over several phases. Some of the early timber houses possibly date to the very end of the Iron Age. By the 3rd century AD, longer, semi-rectangular buildings had replaced them.

The village also appears to continue westward beneath the area known as Big Mancot. The excavated ground may therefore show only part of the settlement.

Brooches and the moulds that made them

The finds include a large collection of Roman metalwork and many kinds of brooches. Several carry colorful enamel, including a Wirral-type brooch and a large brooch of a type often found on Anglesey. The team also found a lead spindle whorl and a denarius of Emperor Commodus from AD 192.

Three casting moulds for brooches point to local production. Heneb says there is substantial evidence that the villagers made the brooches, probably for a wider supply network that served the local community and Chester. The scale of that trade and the identity of the buyers have not been settled.

What happens next

The objects are now going through detailed analysis and conservation. They will move to Flintshire Museum Services, which plans a public display in the near future. Further research will be essential to work out how the settlement developed and how it fitted into the Roman network around Chester.

Sources: Heneb, the Trust for Welsh Archaeology (excavation December 2025, results announced 9 November 2026); Arkeonews, 9 to 10 November 2026. Image: a highly decorated enamelled disc brooch from the Roman settlement at Mancot. Credit: Heneb, the Trust for Welsh Archaeology.