Bronze Age Gold from Wales

Tramplate found on site of Stradey ironworks, Llanelli. Heavy encrusted three-foot tramplate of some weight which, through encrustations, appears to have minimal ‘feet’ and square ends with a single notch shared between pairs of adjacent plates. Found almost at surface when clearing vegetation in garden of Tudor Cottage, which occupies southern part of the former ironworks site. Modern cement splashes are due to its storage inside Tudor Cottage whilst that house was in the process of refurbishment. The deep encrustation suggests that it may be original to the site and hence may date from the working life of the ironworks which ended c.1808. Its heavy weight suggest it was intended for use on a surface tramroad but it may have been intended for use underground in a colliery.