GHF-E090-N06 — “Burnt relics represented years of digs” (South Wales Echo, 18 March 1983)
Wiki catalogue reference: GHF-E090-N06 · Custodian / source URL: Buckler family evidence repository
Evidence preview
Preview not embedded. As at 10-10-2026, no inline image or document preview was identified in the evidence section of this page. Use the custodian/source link below to inspect the item.
Image not yet on the public site. The image is held as an email attachment (file name 3290.jpg) sent with the family’s records request to Heneb of 24 September 2026. It is not in the datro repository and has not been uploaded to the Wiki media library, so no image is shown here rather than a broken link. Uploading it is an open task.
Catalogue UID: GHF-E090-N06 · Custodian/source copy: open source object. Preview and provenance status as at 10-10-2026.
Description
4. Provenance and where to check it
DOCUMENTED (press report) — context only. Catalogue no. GHF-E090-N06. This report concerns the Llandough Roman villa material and does not mention Great House Farm. Sections 1 to 4 record what the report is and says. Section 5 is the Wiki’s reading and is open to challenge. Jump to: Evidence · Transcript · Description · Provenance · Interpretation. 🕒
Correction — 15 October 2026: the previous “NOT PRESENT / PLACEHOLDER” status was a website-maintenance error. A matching scan is already in the WordPress Media Library (item 1199) and is embedded below. This catalogue item is not missing from the Wiki; its image simply had not been linked to this page.
- What it is: a news report by an Echo reporter on the aftermath of a fire.
- Publication and date: South Wales Echo, 18 March 1983.
- Person named: Mr Gareth Dowdell, director of the Glamorgan/Gwent Archaeological Trust.
- What is reported: a fire at the Trust’s Swansea warehouse “last Sunday evening”, destroying thousands of finds collected over seven years; material from the Cae Castell (Rumney), The Knap (Barry), Llandough Roman villa, Barry Village, Cowbridge, Coed-y-Cymdda (Wenvoe) and Cosmeston excavations reported destroyed or largely unrecoverable; about 90 per cent of material seemingly unrecoverable; loss of two offices, a photographic studio and darkroom and photographic material; “very comprehensive records” of the excavations reported as largely salvaged.
- Not in the text: any mention of Great House Farm, or any record held by the Trust about it.
- Holder of the image: email attachment 3290.jpg (24 September 2026 Heneb request). Transcribed on the Press Archive page (N06).
- Original newspaper: South Wales Echo, 18 March 1983. The British Newspaper Archive holds this title for 1983 to 2005, per the Findmypast title page for the South Wales Echo, so the dated page should be obtainable there.
Transcription
Open transcription
2. Verbatim transcript
By an Echo Reporter. The bracketed word “[Studio]” is a cross-heading carried over from the Wiki’s earlier transcription.
THE Glamorgan/Gwent Archaeological Trust are still counting the cost of the disastrous fire which swept through their Swansea warehouse last Sunday evening destroying thousands of relics of Welsh heritage. The trust’s director Mr Gareth Dowdell said today it was still impossible to judge exactly what had been destroyed and what might be recovered. “There were literally thousands of pieces collected over seven years stored at the warehouse,” he said. “In addition to the excavation material there were also casual finds there. We had not had the chance to properly study some of the finds stored there. All the materials from the excavations at Cae Castell, Rumney, Cardiff, have been destroyed and so have those from the Roman building at The Knap, Barry, from the Roman Villa site at Llandough and from Barry Village. Most of the material from the Cowbridge digs, which represented years of work, has also gone.”
[Studio] “And the finds from the late Bronze Age hill slope fort at Coed-y-Cymdda, near Wenvoe, the materials from the 1977 excavations at Cosmeston, near Penarth, and the further trial excavations there last year all went. In all cases about 90 per cent of the material seems to be totally unrecoverable. We also lost two offices, a complete photographic studio and darkroom and an enormous wealth of photographic material. We have taken a giant step backwards and it is going to take us years not just months to get over this. Obviously we have got very comprehensive records of the excavations and, thankfully, a lot have been salvaged now. It is ironic that the weekend we launched our Crisis In Archaeology appeal to the Welsh Office for adequate funding we should receive this major blow. The devastation caused by the fire makes it even more vital now that we get adequate funds. The cost of the fire as far as archaeological loss is concerned cannot be measured in terms of pounds and pence. What we are dealing with here is a large part of the heritage of Wales that has survived for thousands of years being destroyed in a matter of minutes.”
Interpretation and wider context
CONTEXT. The report concerns the Llandough Roman villa excavation material, a separate site from Great House Farm. Its relevance to the Wiki is as an independent record that a 1983 fire destroyed most of a body of Glamorgan archaeological finds, including Llandough material, and that records and photographs were partly lost. That is background for the Wiki’s line of enquiry into the 1983 fire (issue A-052) and for the Missing Records Register. 🕒
What this does not show. It does not show that any Great House Farm record was in the warehouse. The Wiki treats that as unproven. It also reports the Trust’s own statement that comprehensive excavation records were largely salvaged. 🕒
- Upload the image and add its catalogue reference.
- Obtain the dated page from the archive and any later report on the extent of the loss.
Related: Press Articles Index · Press Archive transcripts · Archaeology and Heritage · Missing Records Register · Evidence Library. 🕒
Interpretive assessment date: 10-10-2026.
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