Church and Castle

After the Roman legions were withdrawn in AD 410, Britain splintered into a collection of small, competing kingdoms. Large hillforts like Caerau were once believed to have been too big for early Medieval warlords and their militias to defend. However, excavations at Caerau have shown that despite there being no evidence of early Medieval buildings, the hillfort ramparts were reconstructed during this era. Along with the discovery of a corn drying oven dated to around AD 500, this evidence suggests Caerau may have briefly been a significant early Medieval site.

Later in the medieval period the Normans started encroaching into Wales after their conquest of England in 1066. St. Mary’s church and the adjacent ringwork castle were likely founded in the late 11th century by an Anglo-Norman Lord as part of a ring of similar sites strategically located to control the Cardiff area.