Bremia

Bremia is a Roman fort in Llanio, a small settlement in Ceredigion, West Wales. It lies south-west of Tregaron on the edge of Llanddewi Brefi. The fort was built around AD 75 and remained in use until AD 120. It stands on Sarn Helen, a Roman road that ran north from Dolaucothi. Five inscribed stones have been found at the fort and in the surrounding area. Two of these stones mention a cohort from Asturias in northern Spain that once garrisoned the fort.

Excavations have uncovered the bathhouse and parts of the fort’s defences. The site was first noted in the 17th century by Edward Lhuyd, who recorded coins, bricks and pottery there. Later digs in 1888, 1961, 1969 and 1972 revealed street patterns and defensive banks. Aerial photographs taken during the dry summers of 1975 and 1976 showed cropmarks of the fort’s layout. The fort’s square enclosure, with rounded corners, measures about 130 metres across.

Visitors can see the remains of the fort’s walls and ditches. A geophysical survey in 2005 traced a Roman road leading west from the fort. The inscribed stones found at the site name centurions and the Asturian cohort that once served there. The bathhouse, though partly excavated, still shows traces of its foundations. The surrounding area includes building plots where small smelting sites once stood. The fort and bathhouse are protected as scheduled monuments.