The John Powell named in the memorandum just given was, I do not doubt, John Powell, gentleman, of Rhuddallt, in the parish of Ruabon; while the Justice who wrote and signed it was John Kynaston, Esq., of Plas Kynaston in the same parish. The entries of births or baptisms, in the handwriting of John Powell, are given under the following heading: "Borne & Baptised in the Parish of Ruabon since the nine and twentieth of September" (1653). They go on until the following January, and then suddenly stop. Under the head of burials, John Powell's entries begin at the same date, and go on until May 9, 1654, and then comes the following note :"Memorandum that John Powel, parish Register in the fanaticke times, entered no more names in this booke than are above written from Septem' 1653 unto June 1, 1660" [or January 1662,-date indistinct in my copy,-A. N. P.]," and then the register booke came againe into the custody of Edward Prichard, curate of Ruabon." Under the head of marriages there is no entry in John Powell's handwriting at all, but some one has subsequently made there this note : Clandestine justices' marriages not entered."

The question now arises, Why did John Powell's entries come so soon to an end? And the answer is, I suppose, to be found in the fact that at the Quarter Sessions for county Denbigh, held at Ruthin on the 4th of October 1653, at which Sessions Mr. Kynaston was not present, the Justices had themselves taken action under the Act of August 24, 1653, grouping together, for the purposes of registration, the parishes of Wrexham, Ruabon, and Erbistock, and appointing a registrar of their own. The parish church of Wrexham was fixed upon as the place of publication, and Captain William Wenlocke (afterwards of Colemere, in the parish of Ellesmere) was appointed Registrar. If John Powell continued Registrar of Ruabon parish it was, therefore, only as deputy of Captain Wenlocke; nor was he under any obligation to continue the entries in the old register book of Ruabon which he had begun, being only under obligation to furnish to his chief notes of the births and burials which had taken place in his own parish, Captain Wenlocke then keeping a common register book for the three parishes.

The Act of August 24, 1653, as Dr. Thomas Armitage of New York has pointed out to me, provides only for the registration of births; but it is not evident whether the dates given under John Powell's heading of "Borne & Baptised" are dates of birth or of baptism.

It may be of interest to say that at the same Sessions at which Captain Wenlocke was appointed, Hugh Jones, gentleman, of St. George, was also appointed Registrar for the commote of Isdulas, and the parish church of St. George fixed for the place of publication. Registrars were at the same time appointed for Isaled and Uwchdulas, and the parish churches of Llannefydd and Llanrwst fixed on respectively as the places of publication for the two com

motes.

I think it will be acknowledged that the point raised in this paper

is worthy of attention, and if our excellent fellow-member, Mr. Elias Owen, and others who have ready access to parish registers, would communicate particulars as to the way in which the Commonwealth period is treated in other registers than those above named, they would lay students under a great obligation.

Wrexham.

ALFRED NEOBARD PALMER.

DISCOVERY OF ROMAN COINS AT LLANDUDNO.-In April last Mr. Thomas Kendrick, who keeps the Camera Obscura in the Tygwyn Road, at Llandudno, while engaged on an alteration of the roadway, came upon what he believes to have been an ancient fireplace, near which, embedded in the clay, were seventeen Roman coins with one piece of pottery. The coins were forwarded by Dr. H. Thomas, of Llandudno, to the British Museum to be catalogued by Mr. Barclay V. Head, Assistant Keeper of Coins, who has published a list of them in the Numismatic Chronicle, vol. viii, Ser. 3, p. 163. It appears from this list that the coins are of the following Roman emperors :-one of Galienus, A.D. 253-268; two of Victorinus, A.D. 265-267; one of Tetricus, A.D. 267-273; thirteen of Carausius, A.D. 287-293. In Mr. T. Kendrick's grounds, near the Camera Obscura, is a bone-cave, in which a necklace of bears' teeth and human remains have been discovered.

Gungrog Hall, Welshpool.

MORRIS C. JONES, F.S.A.

VALLE CRUCIS ABBEY.-In my letter on "The Records of the Bailiwick of Wrexham, A.D. 1339 and 1340", printed in the last (July) Number of Archæologia Cambrensis, I omitted to say that the name of the Abbot at that time presiding over the community of Llanegwestl, or Valle Crucis, is several times given, a gap in the list of the Abbots of that Monastery being thus partially supplied. name of this Abbot was Addaf or Adam. He is mentioned both in 1339 and 1340. Unless my memory deceives me, the Monastery is always called "Llanegwestl" in the records, never Valle Crucis. ALFRED NEOBARD PALMER.

Wrexham.

The

EDITORIAL NOTE.-In order to ensure the punctual issue of the October Number of the Archæologia Cambrensis, it has been found necessary to hold over the Report of the Cowbridge Meeting until the January Number of 1889, together with other important matter, including Mr. Stephen W. Williams' Report on Strata Florida, and notices of discoveries at Caerworgan, Valle Crucis Abbey, and Pen

mon.

It was decided at Cowbridge that the Annual Meeting of the Cambrian Archæological Association should take place next year in Brittany. Further particulars will be announced in the January Number. In the meantime communications on the subject will be gladly received by the Editors.

T. Rees, Esq., Mayor of Cowbridge
Rev. D. Bowen, Cowbridge
James A. Corbett, Esq., Cardiff
Rev. Canon Edmondes, Cowbridge
Rev. Daniel Evans, Llanmaes
T. Mansel Franklen, Esq., St. Hilary
Rev. A. T. Hughes, Llancarfan
Rev. John Jones, Ewenny
O. H. Jones, Esq., Fonmon Castle
Rev. E. Jenkins, Llanmihangel
Rev. W. Llewellyn, Cowbridge
F. Mathews, Esq., Cowbridge
Daniel Owen, Esq., Ash Hall
C. Collins Prichard, Esq., Pwllywrach
J. Pyke Thompson, Esq., Cardiff
Colonel Tyler, Llantrythid
Rev. E. W. Vaughan, Llantwit Major
Rev. Canon Allen, Porthkerry

J. Coates Carter, Esq., Cardiff
Rev. W. David, St. Fagans
Rev. F. W. Edmondes, Bridgend
W. H. Evans, Esq., Llanmaes
W. T. Gwyn, Esq., Cowbridge
Rev. H. J. Humphreys, Llangan
Rev. Joseph Jones, St. Lythans
Rev. P. Wilson Jones, Marcross
Rev. C. Ll. Llewellin, Coychurch
Rev. Lewis Morgan, St. Hilary
G. W. Nicholl, Esq., The Ham
J. W. Phillips, Esq., Cowbridge
G. E. Robinson, Esq., Cardiff
Mr. T. Thomas, Bear Hotel, Cowbridge
C. T. Vachell, Esq., M.D., Cardiff
Rev. M. Price Williams, Cowbridge
School

Rev. Rees Williams, St. Donats
Local Secretary.

Iltyd B. Nicholl, Esq., F.S.A., The Ham, Cowbridge.

5TH SER., VOL. V.

26

372

REPORT OF MEETING.

EVENING MEETING, MONDAY, AUGUST 13TH.

THE inaugural meeting, which was preceded, as usual, by a committee meeting for the transaction of private business, was held in the Town Hall, at 8.30 P.M. The members of the Association mustered in force, and there was a large attendance of the inhabitants of Cowbridge, who evinced a lively interest in the addresses and papers dealing with the history of their native town.

The retiring President, Charles Salisbury Mainwaring, Esq., being unavoidably prevented from attending personally to resign his office, the chair was taken by his successor, the Lord Bishop of St. David's. His Worship the Mayor of Cowbridge, Thomas Rees, Esq., then welcomed the members of the Association and their friends on behalf of the Corporation. The Lord Bishop of St. David's, after suitably acknowledging the Mayor's courtesy in a few well-chosen words, proceeded to deliver the Presidential Address:

:

The Right Rev. the President first offered, in the name of the diocese of Llandaff, the Association a very hearty welcome, and expressed the earnest hope that the visit to a neighbourhood so full of objects of interest to the lover of archæology might amply repay the Association for having selected it as the field for their investigations during the present summer. With the varied archæological riches with which it was stored many of the members were probably far better acquainted than he. Not only were those stores of interest from an archæological point of view, they were also precious as historical landmarks and guides, without which the social, political, and ecclesiastical history of that part of the Principality in which they were would be nothing more than a fragmentary record stripped of well-nigh all which now rendered it interesting and trustworthy. Amongst the various remains of antiquity which were to be found within easy distance of their present place of meeting were some consisting of nothing more than a circle of rude colossal stones, untouched by the hammer or chisel of the workman. At other spots would be found

remains, more or less perfect, of the grand old abbey or the modest parish church, in which would be seen the varying styles of Christian architecture, which followed each other in quick succession, each with its own peculiar gracefulness and beauty. Referring to the most ancient or British period, perhaps, the right rev. gentleman remarked, the most interesting monument within the range of their researches was the vast cromlech at St. Nicholas. It was, he believed, one of the largest, if not the largest, of these remains to be found, not only in that particular neighbourhood, but in the whole kingdom. Other remains of the same period and of structures devoted to the same purpose, but of smaller dimensions, existed in the immediate neighbourhood, especially one at Maesyfaen, on the opposite side of Duffryn House, and equidistant from it, which would well repay a visit. But the remains of the British period were not confined to those of structures devoted to sepulchral and religious purposes. Encampments of greater or less extent, scattered at intervals over large portions of the Land of Morgan, served to remind them that their forefathers were not so wholly engrossed in peaceful pursuits as to neglect to guard themselves against the attacks of their enemies. Amongst the most extensive as well as the most ancient of these was that in the parish of Llangynwd, about five miles from Bridgend. From the British period they passed into that of the Roman occupation, which commenced about the middle of the first century of the Christian era, by the victory, after a long and brave resistance, of the Roman general over Caractacus, son of Bran the Blessed. Doubtless, at the moment the conquest of the Silures and the captivity of their brave leader were regarded as a terrible national disaster; but if tradition spoke truly, that Bran the Blessed and his brave son returned after their captivity converted to the Christian faith, that event, by God's good providence, had been productive of the richest blessing. Apart, however, from the interest which attached to the introduction of Christianity, regarded in its religious aspect, in some at least of its results it had peculiar interest for the archeologist, since there were few objects he investigated with greater pleasure than the remains of those ancient Christian temples raised by pious forefathers to the honour and for the worship of God. Of such of these ancient structures as existed in the immediate neighbourhood he would add a word or two presently, and would turn to notice briefly some of the remains which were more immediately connected with the advent of the Romans, and which were rendered necessary by the circumstances in which they were at that time placed. Of the caerau or encampments, remains of these were to be found in great abundance, and of those in the immediate neighbourhood that at Caerau, on a rising ground about two miles from Cardiff, was the most important and of the largest dimensions, occupying a space of about twelve acres. Amongst other relics of Roman occupation still to be seen in that neighbourhood were portions of the roads used by