Subject: Re: FOI - 2026-024 - Great House Farm, Llandough
From: Sion Buckler
Direction: sent
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2026 06:24 UTC
Institution: Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales
Refs: none
Archive id: gm-1a03cbd6af82d931
------------------------------------------------------------

Dear FOI Team,

Thank you for your response.

I am requesting an internal review of the handling of my request. I do not
consider the response sufficient because it appears that the searches were
conducted too narrowly around the later description of a "medieval visor,
lance, helmet or other item of armour", rather than around the underlying
historical discovery at Great House Farm itself.

The issue I am investigating is a reported nineteenth-century discovery at
Great House Farm (Ty Mawr), Llandough. My understanding from contemporary
or near-contemporary newspaper and historical accounts is that the
discovery was described as involving the remains of a Roman soldier, with
associated remains and objects. The dating and description of the
individual objects as "medieval" may therefore itself be inaccurate, or may
represent a later conflation or retelling of the original discovery.

Your response is particularly significant because it states:

«"Our searches identified records relating to ... other archaeological
discoveries recorded at Great House Farm (Ty Mawr), Llandough. These
records do not relate to, nor are they otherwise associated with, the
discovery described in your request. We have therefore not considered them
to fall within the scope of this request."»

I respectfully challenge that approach.

The central question is precisely whether the discovery described in later
historical accounts can be identified, corroborated, corrected or explained
through the Museum's records concerning archaeological discoveries at Great
House Farm. If the Museum has identified records relating to other
discoveries at the same historically significant site, it is not sufficient
simply to conclude internally that they are unrelated without disclosing
what those discoveries are, when they were recorded, and the basis upon
which that conclusion was reached.

I therefore request that the internal review reconsider the scope of my
request and undertake searches using, at minimum, the following terms and
concepts:

- Great House Farm
- Ty Mawr
- Llandough
- Llandough, Cardiff
- Roman soldier
- Roman burial
- Roman grave
- Roman remains
- human remains
- skeleton
- horse remains
- equine remains
- soldier and horse
- cavalry burial
- military burial
- grave goods
- Roman military equipment
- visor
- helmet
- lance
- spear
- armour
- archaeological discovery
- nineteenth-century discovery
- 1870 and adjacent years

Please also search for relevant records under alternative historical
place-name indexing, donor names, findspot descriptions, parish names and
catalogue terminology where the precise modern name "Great House Farm" may
not have been used.

Most importantly, I ask that you disclose sufficient information about the
"other archaeological discoveries" which your searches identified at Great
House Farm to enable me to understand and assess the Museum's conclusion
that they are unrelated. This should include, so far as held:

1. A description or title of each relevant discovery or record.
2. The approximate date of the discovery or record.
3. The nature of the material or remains involved.
4. Any accession number, catalogue number or archival reference.
5. The recorded provenance or findspot.
6. Any dating attributed to the discovery.
7. The basis upon which Amgueddfa Cymru concluded that each record was
unrelated to the nineteenth-century discovery described in my request.

I am not asking the Museum to create new archaeological opinions or
undertake speculative research. I am asking for recorded information which
has already been identified during the searches and which directly concerns
archaeological discoveries at the specific site named in my request.

If the Museum maintains that any of those records fall outside the original
scope, then please treat this email additionally as a refined request for
the recorded information identified above.

I would also ask the reviewer to consider whether the original response
gave insufficient weight to the possibility that the historical account may
have inaccurately dated or described the find. A search which excludes
Roman, nineteenth-century, burial and equine terminology risks missing the
very records capable of establishing what was actually discovered beneath
Great House Farm.

Given that your searches have already identified records concerning
archaeological discoveries at Great House Farm itself, I would be grateful
for a full reconsideration and disclosure of the recorded information
requested above.

Yours faithfully,

Sion Buckler (Ret'd Sergeant)
Royal Signals Cyber and Electronic Warfare Professional and Life Member

On Tue, 25 Aug 2026, 04:25 FOI Requests, <[email redacted]>
wrote:

> Dear Mr Buckler,
>
>
>
> Thank you for your request for information received on 27 July 2026
> concerning records relating to a reported discovery at Great House Farm (Ty
> Mawr), Llandough, including a soldier, horse remains and items described as
> a visor and lance.
>
>
>
> Amgueddfa Cymru has undertaken searches of its collections management
> systems, accession records and associated documentation.
>
>
>
> We have not identified any records relating to the acquisition, accession,
> donation, transfer or deposit of a medieval visor, lance, helmet or other
> item of armour associated with Great House Farm (Ty Mawr), Llandough. We
> have also not identified records relating to the specific discovery
> described in your request, including records of associated human or animal
> remains, reburial records, excavation reports, watching briefs or discovery
> reports.
>
>
>
> Accordingly, under section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000,
> our response is that Amgueddfa Cymru does not hold the requested
> information.
>
>
>
> For completeness, our searches identified records relating to other
> archaeological finds from Church Farm, Llandough and to other
> archaeological discoveries recorded at Great House Farm (Ty Mawr),
> Llandough. These records do not relate to, nor are they otherwise
> associated with, the discovery described in your request. We have therefore
> not considered them to fall within the scope of this request.
>
>
>
> If you are dissatisfied with this response, you may request an internal
> review by writing to [email redacted] within 40 working
> days of the date of this letter.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Cofion cynnes,
>
>
>
> [image: A picture containing text, tableware, plate, dishware Description
> automatically generated]
>
> *FOI Team*
>
> [email redacted] <[email redacted]>
>
> amgueddfa.cymru | museum.wales
>
>
>
> *Rhif elusen* | Charity number 525774
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Sion Buckler <[email redacted]>
> *Sent:* 27 July 2026 02:22
> *To:* FOI Requests <[email redacted]>
> *Subject:* ALLANOL/EXTERNAL - FOI - Great House Farm, Llandough
>
>
>
>
> This email comes from outside the organisation.
>
> Do not click links or open attachments unless it is an email you expected
> to receive.
>
> You don't often get email from [email redacted]. Learn why this
> is important <https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification>
>
> Dear Freedom of Information Team,
>
>
>
> I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act
> 2000 and, where applicable, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
>
>
>
> A published local history account states that, during works to replace the
> stone floor of the dining room at Great House Farm (also known as Ty Mawr),
> Llandough, Cardiff, the remains of a soldier and his horse were discovered
> beneath the floor.
>
>
>
>  The remains were subsequently re-buried in the churchyard, and the
> soldier’s visor and lance were given to the National Museum of Wales
> (Amgueddfa Cymru).
>
>
>
> I therefore request the following recorded information held by Amgueddfa
> Cymru:
>
>
>
> Any records relating to the acquisition, accession, donation, transfer or
> deposit of a medieval visor, lance, helmet, or other items of armour
> associated with Great House Farm / Ty Mawr / Llandough.
>
>
>
> The accession number(s), date of acquisition or transfer, name of the
> donor or transferring body, and any provenance or discovery notes linked to
> these objects.
>
>
>
> Any catalogue entries, object records, or internal correspondence
> concerning the above items.
>
>
>
> Any records of associated human or animal remains from the same discovery,
> including notes on reburial.
>
>
>
> Any related excavation, watching-brief, or discovery reports held by the
> Museum.
>
>
>
> If any of the requested information is already publicly available (for
> example via the Museum’s online collections database), I would be grateful
> if you could simply provide the relevant accession numbers or catalogue
> links.
>
>
>
> Please treat this as a request for recorded information only. I am not
> seeking advice or opinion.
>
>
>
> I look forward to your response within the statutory timescale.
>
>
>
> Yours faithfully,
>
>
>
> Sion Buckler (Ret'd Sergeant)
>