The identification of Bodfari with the elusive Roman station of Varis, comes in no small part with the discovery of a variety of Roman finds, including a number of silver denarii to the west of the village and that of a silver bead in the garden of Hill View. Indeed, OS maps of the 19th century make clear that Varis was sited here, by Pontruffydd Hall Farm. However, most interesting of all was the discovery of a series of cremation urns. These were first recorded by Richard Fenton in 1808 while searching for Varis, and written of in his, ‘Tours in Wales’ (1804-1813). These were found at Pontruffydd Hall Farm, close to the site which has been traditionally believed by earlier antiquarians, most notably William Camden, to be the location of Varis. The enthusiastic Fenton writes,
‘Resumed our search after Varis and the Roman road, and took the turnpike to Pontryfndd…Rode up to the field under and about Bodfari, traversing them in every direction, but found no traces of the Station. But on our return, we hailed a farmer in an adjoining field, who, to satisfy our various enquiries, said that close by, in a plantation belonging to Ponttruffydd House…and in digging at the present trees on the spot…many urns were found. This induced us to look at the spot referred to, and never did a place strike us as better situated, being the first gentle eminence that occurs after crossing the Clwyd…and it is called by a very remarkable name, Cae yr orsedd, the Field of the Supreme Council…We were told by one of the labourers about the house, who was likewise present at the digging up of the urns, that they were red at bottom, and black in the bellying part, and covers of the same manufactory, which clearly proves them Roman. On enquiring what became of them, he said they were again buried, as they contained ashes and bones imperfectly burned.’
R. Fenton, Tours in Wales, (1804-1813), p.153-154
Somewhere amongst these fields beside the road to Denbigh, a host of Bronze Age urns were discovered. Thought at the time to be Roman, they gave sustenance to those that believed the lost station of Varis was sited in the Chwiler Gap.
In an 1858 article in Archaeologia Cambrensis, a correspondent was able to add further information.
‘Some light may hereafter be thrown on the vexata questio of this Roman station, by an announcement furnished by an authority of unquestionable character, Miss Lloyd, of Rhyl. When the late Lord Mostyn's father was planting some trees at Pontryffydd House, the workmen uncovered divers specimens of Roman bricks, pottery, &c. A few years ago, the house was occupied by a lady, whose servants and children, digging among the trees, turned up some Roman earthenware. We are informed the place has lately changed hands, and is now the property of Miss Mesham.’
Archaeologia Cambrensis, April 1858, p.188
In a letter dated 1935, a Mrs Eileen Birchenough, a relative of Miss Mesham, referred to the urns having been found on the top of,
‘rising ground close to the road where the big stones are, or near there.’
Quoted in E. Davies, Flintshire, p.36
The reference to rising ground does seem to point to the site as being in fact, a tumulus, rather than Roman. The interesting reference to ‘big stones’, and hence a site far more ancient than Roman, does chime nicely with information gathered by the antiquarian, Angharad Llwyd, in which she mentions in a nearby field by the name of Cae Maen Lhwyd, ‘an immense stone which was blown up by powder’, and which was said to have been so big, that it took the men tasked with demolishing the stone, a full month to successfully render it to road side rubble. And when one considers that some of the field names in the near vicinity of the area went by such names as Cae yr Orsedd, through which the current road was originally cut, it is likely that the discovered cremation urns were Bronze Age and had been buried within a tumulus, subsequently destroyed and lost.
As to whether the urns were in fact reburied, is unknown, and if so their current whereabouts is also a mystery. And as for the location of Varis - no amount of wishful thinking will place the lost Roman station at Bodfari. It is likely as not, buried somewhere beneath St Asaph Cathedral.
Further Reading
Archaeologia Cambrensis, 1856
E. Davies, The Prehistoric and Roman Remains of Flintshire, Cardiff, (1949)
R. Fenton, Tours in Wales (1804-1813), ed. J. Fisher, London, (1917)
S. Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, London, (1834)
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