Description

The monument comprises the remains of a hillfort, which probably dates to the Iron Age period (c. 800 BC - AD 74, the Roman conquest of Wales). Hillforts are usually located on hilltops and surrounded by a single or multiple earthworks of massive proportions. Hillforts must have formed symbols of power within the landscape, while their function may have had as much to do with ostentation and display as defence.

The hillfort is situated on a north west facing slope in light woodland. It consists of a large, roughly circular enclosure with a flat interior and a variable series of concentric banks around it. At the southern end of the west side the ground drops steeply outside the banks. From the outside in, first there is a 1m high bank, then a 6m berm, then a 2.5m bank, then a 17m wide berm with a slight rise of 1.5m in the middle, then a 2.2m high bank up to the interior. Further north on the west side the banks simplify into one large one of 4m, with a flat berm c.17m wide, and then the natural slope. At the north west corner there is a curving entrance 6m wide and 1.8m deep. The north side consists of a 2m high bank only. Outside it the ground slopes gently a little way and then drops precipitously. On the north east side the ground outside the camp begins to rise. Here, from the outside, there is a 1.2m deep ditch, 3m wide, then a 1.5m high bank, a 22m wide flat berm and then a 2m high bank up to the interior. Further around the east side, where the ground is still rising outside the camp there is an outer ditch 1.5m deep and 3m wide, then a bank 1m high on both sides, a wide berm and then an inner bank 1m high. On the south east side a quarry has destroyed the ditch and outer bank and another just to the west of it lies between the inner and outer banks. On the south side the ground begins to fall away again outside the camp. On the outside there is a ditch 0.8m high and 2m wide, then a bank 2.2m high on the outside and 1.2m high on the inside. Inside this is a wide flat berm, then an inner bank 1.5m high on the outside and 1m high on the inside. There are two small causeways c.2m wide across the ditches on this side, with corresponding gaps 1m deep in the outer bank. On the southwest side the ground slopes away steeply and the outer and inner banks are closer together: the outer bank is very steep and 2.2m high, then there is a 17m wide flat berm, then a 2m high bank to the interior.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of later prehistoric defensive organisation and settlement. The site forms an important element within the wider later prehistoric context and within the surrounding landscape. The site is well preserved and retains considerable archaeological potential. There is a strong probability of the presence of evidence relating to chronology, building techniques and functional detail.

The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.

Source: Cadw