Banwen is in the Upper Dulais Valley, with views over the southern slopes of the Brecon Beacons (Welsh: Bannau Brycheiniog).

As part of the construction, two fortified structures were built where the road made a shift in direction, just north of Banwen.

[3] Two-hundred metres north-west of the camp, a smaller, square fort was built, with earth ramparts and timber construction throughout.

[5] This was in use as a fort of the Roman Auxiliary Army for around 70 years, providing defensible accommodation some 18 kilometres (11 miles) from Nidum (Neath).

This is supported by the writings most widely attributed to him, The Confession of St, Patrick, in which the saint gives his birthplace as Banavem Taburniae or Banna Venta Berniae on the west coast of Britain.

Eoin MacNeill argued that this was more likely than other purported birth places in Northern Britannia, as "The western coasts of southern Scotland and northern England held little to interest a (Irish) raider seeking quick access to booty and numerous slaves, while the southern coast of Wales offered both.

[12] Roman Road in Banwen is featured prominently as a location in The Strike, filmed in 1987 for the Channel 4 series The Comic Strip Presents... and broadcast in January 1988.