Case Study: Five Mile Lane
A4226 Road Improvement Scheme, Barry, Vale of Glamorgan
Client
Vale of Glamorgan Council
Sector
Roads / Transport Infrastructure
Location
Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales
The Challenge
The A4226 Five Mile Lane Road Improvement Scheme involved the upgrade and realignment of approximately 8 km of roadway through a landscape with known archaeological potential. The route lay within an area rich in prehistoric, Roman and later heritage, creating the need for a robust archaeological strategy that could both protect significant remains and support delivery of the wider transport scheme.
Rubicon Archaeology was appointed to deliver the archaeological works on behalf of the Vale of Glamorgan Council, undertaking a staged programme of investigation designed to identify, evaluate and mitigate archaeological risk before and during construction.
Our Approach
Rubicon carried out a comprehensive programme of desk-based assessment, geophysical survey, archaeological evaluation, excavation and watching brief works across the route. Early-stage investigation identified key areas requiring further attention, allowing resources to be targeted where archaeological potential was greatest.
Initial survey work highlighted several priority locations, with subsequent evaluation refining the mitigation strategy further. Ultimately, three highly significant areas were identified for full excavation, enabling Rubicon to recover and record complex archaeological sequences spanning multiple periods.
Throughout the project, Rubicon liaised closely with relevant stakeholders and heritage bodies, including Cadw, Cardiff University and the National Museum of Wales, helping ensure that fieldwork, recording and interpretation were carried out in line with best practice.
Some Statistics
Key Archaeological Findings
The excavation programme revealed a remarkably rich archaeological landscape representing more than 6,000 years of activity. The results transformed understanding of this part of the Vale of Glamorgan, showing repeated use of the landscape from prehistory through to the modern era.
Prehistoric and Roman evidence
- Mesolithic flint and evidence for very early activity within the wider landscape.
- Neolithic and Bronze Age ceremonial and funerary activity, including pit alignments, burial monuments and cremation evidence.
- Iron Age settlement evidence, including enclosures, roundhouses and associated field systems.
- Roman-period occupation and agricultural use, including evidence for a high-status farmstead and metalworking.
Medieval to modern landscape
- An extensive early medieval cemetery focused on a prehistoric burial monument, representing one of the most significant discoveries on the route.
- Evidence suggesting the area functioned as an important focal point for assembly, burial and agricultural activity.
- Post-medieval agricultural features and industrial remains, including quarrying and lime-burning activity.
- More recent remains associated with twentieth-century home-defence use.
The Results
- Delivered a full archaeological mitigation programme for a major Welsh road infrastructure scheme.
- Identified and excavated the most significant archaeological areas along the route through a staged, evidence-led methodology.
- Generated nationally important evidence for the long-term development of the Vale of Glamorgan landscape from prehistory to the post-medieval period.
- Supported long-term public value through accessible interpretation, publication and heritage dissemination.
Why Rubicon?
Five Mile Lane demonstrates Rubicon Archaeology’s ability to manage large-scale infrastructure archaeology in a way that combines rigorous field investigation, strong stakeholder coordination and meaningful public-facing outcomes.
Infrastructure delivery experience
Archaeological services planned and executed in support of major transport infrastructure delivery.
Multi-period expertise
Capability to investigate, interpret and report complex archaeological sequences spanning multiple phases of activity.
Stakeholder coordination
Close liaison with client teams, heritage stakeholders and academic partners throughout project delivery.
Public dissemination
Commitment to extending project value through eBooks, StoryMap content and formal publication.
Publications & Public Engagement
The results of the project were not only recorded for the historic environment record and formal publication, but also shared through a series of accessible public outputs designed to broaden engagement with the archaeology of the scheme.
Volume 1 eBook
An illustrated guide presenting the initial excavation results in an accessible format.
Volume 2 eBook
A follow-on publication sharing more detailed post-excavation findings and interpretation.
The project was also brought together in the later publication A Journey Through 6000 Years of History, reflecting the scale and significance of the archaeological results.
Outcome
Through a staged, evidence-led programme of archaeological investigation, Rubicon Archaeology helped deliver the Five Mile Lane road improvement scheme while uncovering one of the most important recent archaeological landscapes investigated in the Vale of Glamorgan — and ensuring those results were shared widely through publication and digital engagement.