1. c. 650
   St Dochdwy’s, beside the farm, is thought to be the site of an early monastery.
   Legal Wiki, Archaeology (Master Timeline)
2. c.1880
   ‘Armour’ reported found under the floor of the rear wing of Great House; thought to be the medieval ironwork from Llandough now at the National Museum.
   Heneb HER 02038s (Suggett, RCAHMW, Dec 1988)
3. 1962–3
   E. J. Beare recovers sherds of 13th- or 14th-century pottery on the slope immediately north-east of Great House Farm, north of the church.
   Holbrook & Thomas 2005, n.183
4. 1963
   Barry and Vale Archaeological Group excavates south of the church: the corner of a 12th- or 13th-century house and a gully with three human skeletons of possible 13th-century date.
   Holbrook & Thomas 2005
5. 1974
   A measured survey of the farmhouse is made, recorded in the regional heritage record.
   Legal Wiki, Archaeology (Master Timeline); Heneb HER 02038s
6. 1978–79
   GGAT excavates south of the church: a possible late Iron Age roundhouse and a Roman villa (2nd–4th century), published 1988.
   Coflein NPRN 400051; Holbrook & Thomas 2005
7. 17 Apr 1980
   Neath Guardian reports the Roman villa remains found at Llandough (headline “Roman villa remains at Llandough”).
   Neath Guardian (MR-0035, media register)
8. Oct 1982
   GGAT recommends archaeological investigation of the farm before any development.
   Legal Wiki, Master Timeline
9. 13 Mar 1983
   Fire at GGAT’s Swansea warehouse destroys the finds from the Llandough Roman villa excavation (a separate site).
   Press report, 1983 (Legal Wiki press transcripts, N06)
10. 29 Jul 1988
    Cadw inspects the farmhouse for listing; two Cadw photographs of that day, coded “YYY”, survive.
    Cadw photographs (EV-0095); Legal Wiki, Cadw 1988
11. 1988 (before 5 Dec)
    Cadw officers come into the house and survey it before Cadw’s 5 Dec 1988 decision not to spot-list; a further visit was announced for the weekend of 3–4 Dec. Cadw confirmed the inspection in writing on 11 Jun 2026 (ATISN 27021). The exact date of the inspection is not established.
    Press 1988 (N08); EV-0255; EV-0095
12. 6 Dec 1988
    BP Properties Ltd demolishes the farmhouse and farm buildings. HER: “suddenly and completely demolished … amid considerable local controversy.” RCAHMW records sherds of 12th- to early 14th-century pottery on the slope north-east of the house.
    Heneb HER 02038s; Coflein NPRN 20182
13. 6 Apr 1989
    Cadw issues the Llandough community resurvey list (13430, 13431; the church, 13432, dated 4 Jun 1989), four months after the demolition.
    EV-0272
14. 8 Nov 1989
    Outline application 89/01396/OUT (residential development) received by the Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council. GGAT comments on the application.
    EV-0124; EV-0113
15. 1990
    GGAT digs 8 trial trenches, commissioned by BP Properties Ltd through its agents Debenham Tewson. GGAT advised both the council and BP (the report calls this a “dual role”). Human remains in trenches 3 and 4; the dairy corner of the house in trench 7.
    Heneb HER events GGATE003872 and GGATE000877
16. 8 Feb 1990
    Further GGAT comments on the outline application (Appendix B of the 1990 report) are missing from the planning file.
    Legal Wiki, Redevelopment
17. 13 Mar 1990
    Outline permission granted. Condition: “no development shall take place until a field evaluation survey and archaeological assessment report has been carried out by a qualified archaeologist to the satisfaction of the Local Planning Authority.”
    EV-0114; condition quoted in the 1990 report (EV-0126)
18. Aug 1990
    GGAT report “Land at Great House Farm, Llandough: An Archaeological Assessment”. Area by the churchyard wall rated medium-high potential. It flags the Disused Burial Grounds (Amendment) Act 1981 and recommends that BP Properties Ltd take legal advice on the human remains before deciding how to build. Short note in Archaeology in Wales 30 (1990), 66.
    EV-0126 (scan) and transcription; NMR ref. 6524751
19. Mar–May 1992
    Ideal Homes Wales applies for approval of reserved matters, 92/00671/RES (20 detached houses), under the 1990 outline permission. Layout drawings dated March 1992.
    Planning file 92/00671, application form and drawings
20. 27 Jul 1992
    GGAT to the council: the 1990 assessment “demonstrated conclusively that significant archaeological deposits exist within the proposed development area … including a quantity of human bone”. GGAT urges excavation to “preserve by record” before development. Page 2 of the letter is missing from the file.
    Planning file 92/00671, archaeology responses p.4
21. 3 Sep 1992
    The council’s Chief Planning and Development Officer approves 92/00671/RES. No additional archaeological condition is imposed. Holbrook & Thomas (2005) and the developer’s 1994 preliminary report call this “full planning permission” in “March 1992”.
    Planning file 92/00671 (approval stamp; archaeology responses pp.24–25, 29)
22. 26 Aug 1993
    South Wales Echo feature on the Roman occupation at Llandough and its villa.
    South Wales Echo (MR-0083, media register)
23. 3 Dec 1993
    BP Properties Ltd to Ideal Homes Wales (title WA231076).
    Master Timeline
24. 13 & 15 Dec 1993
    Building has started. GGAT, the council’s archaeological adviser, writes that condition 18 “has not been fulfilled and cannot be discharged by your Authority” and recommends “a Breach of Condition notice is issued immediately”.
    Planning file 92/00671, archaeology responses pp.1–2; EV-0131
25. 1994
    “At an early stage it became clear that the site contained numerous burials that continued beyond the bounds of the agreed excavation area.” Excavation extended to 0.22 ha: 1,026 burials. Work ceased September 1994. (The HER event record gives 858 inhumations.)
    Holbrook & Thomas 2005; Heneb HER GGATE003875, GGAT02272s
26. 1994
    Building work outside the excavation area disturbed “probably at least 30” burials; two were recovered by salvage recording.
    Holbrook & Thomas 2005
27. 4 Feb 1994
    After a site meeting on 18 Jan 1994, the developer’s agent cites the developer’s counsel’s opinion that condition 18 “has been discharged and that the approval of the detailed plans and the notice issued by your council are decisive as to that”.
    Planning file 92/00671, archaeology responses pp.24–25
28. Mar 1994
    Cotswold Archaeological Trust commissioned (by Wyn Thomas & Partners for Ideal Homes Wales Ltd) to excavate about 0.1 ha. Home Office burial licence granted 21 Mar 1994. GGAT’s letter of 18 May 1994 records that it expired on 21 Apr 1994 and had not been renewed by 3 May; the agent’s note of 5 May gives it as running to 20 Jul 1994.
    Heneb HER GGATE003875; Holbrook & Thomas 2005; Planning file 92/00671, archaeology responses pp.38–40
29. 29 Apr 1994
    South Wales Echo, Local News p.5, “Burial ground find sparks Romans or Dark Ages conflict”: about 30 skeletons, traces of Roman timber buildings and Roman pottery found in trial excavations on land bought for a luxury housing development; a 10-week dig by Cotswold Archaeological Trust for Ideal Homes, on a site north of St Dochdwy’s Church: “It’s believed the remains of up to 300 bodies buried between the 5th and 11th century lie beneath the now-demolished Great House Farm”.
    South Wales Echo (MR-0084, media register)
30. 4 May 1994
    Meeting of the council’s Director and planning officer, GGAT, Ideal Homes and the excavators. The agent’s note records conditions 17 and 18 as discharged (council letters of 15 Oct 1990 and 15 Feb 1994), that the council does not intend work to stop, and that the excavation is “on a voluntary basis”.
    Planning file 92/00671, archaeology responses pp.41–43
31. 18 May 1994
    GGAT to the council: condition 16 “can now effectively be discharged”; Cadw may consider “spot scheduling this rare and important site of national significance”; no development until the site is “archaeologically cleared to the highest professional standards”.
    Planning file 92/00671, archaeology responses pp.38–40
32. 28 Jul 1994
    Finds donated to Amgueddfa Cymru (accession 95.56H) by Ideal Homes Wales Ltd.
    EV-0293
33. 2005
    Holbrook & Thomas, “An Early-medieval Monastic Cemetery at Llandough, Glamorgan: Excavations in 1994”, Medieval Archaeology 49, 1–92. Free eprint at the Archaeology Data Service; 1994 datasets doi 10.5284/1000252.
    Medieval Archaeology 49 (2005)
34. 2005
    Medieval Archaeology 49 publishes “From Villa to Monastery: Llandough in Context”, on the villa and monastery sequence at Llandough.
    Medieval Archaeology 49 (MR-0098, media register)
35. 2 May 2007
    Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales blog “The suffering of burial 631” on a skeleton from the 1994 Llandough excavation.
    Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales blog (MR-0099, media register)
36. 9 Jun 2014
    RCAHMW splits the cemetery out of the farm record as Coflein NPRN 802090 (Cotswold Archaeology project archive, NMRW CA017).
    Coflein NPRN 802090
37. 2017
    Open-access multi-isotope study of diet and subsistence among island and mainland populations includes isotope data from the Llandough cemetery.
    PMC (open access) (MR-0103, media register)
38. Mar 2019
    GGAT’s 1990 assessment report is accessioned to the national record.
    Legal Wiki, Master Timeline
39. 14 May 2025
    Barry & District News, “The early medieval monument at Llandough, near Cardiff”.
    Barry & District News (MR-0108, media register)

The 1990 report: EV-0126 · full timeline with record numbers: EV-0900 · every event of the case: central chronology · press and video: media coverage