The defended enclosure/hillfort of Romans Castle commands an extensive view, situated at the western end of a ridge that marks one of the highest points in the locality, some 90m above sea level. The monument occupies the end of the ridge and can be described as roughly pentagonal or wedge shaped with a series of earthwork defences constructed across level ground, enclosing an interior of 0.35 ha (56m north-south by 73m east-west). The interior has previously been ploughed and no extant features survive.
The earthworks that define the interior of the monument, appear to have originally comprised a concentric double bank and ditch system, cut by a main west facing entrance, with an additional third line of defence enclosing all but the west side. However, a definitive understanding of this arrangement, based upon the surviving earthworks, is impossible due to the removal of key sections during later agricultural activity. Of these defences, the inner bank and ditch are the best preserved, with the bank, in one form or other, defining the complete circuit and the ditch some 5m wide, traceable on all but the west side. The bank is some 11m wide and stands around 4.2m high from the base of the ditch and 1.7m from the interior.
Aside from the main west facing entrance, two other gaps through the inner bank might be possible entrances. The one on the south creates a clear gap and pinch point (in-turn) that is mirrored in both the bank and ditch. Opposite this, to the north the defences also break from the natural curve and turn at a more sharply defined angle. Whilst these features may simply be the result of the construction technique another interpretation is that they provide evidence for phasing within the monument. Could Romans Castle have originated as a small circular hilltop enclosure with an in-turned entrance on the south side that was subsequently enlarged and enhanced to the west with a new entrance arrangement, most likely during the Iron Age?
A detailed survey of the monument was carried out by the Royal Commission and Walwyn's castle Local History Society in March 2010.
Louise Barker, RCAHMW, November 2012
Adnoddau
LawrlwythoMathFfynhonnellDisgrifiad
application/pdfRCSR - RCAHMW Digital Site ReportsDigital report relating to Romans Castle, Walwyn's Castle.
application/mswordDSC - RCAHMW Digital Survey CollectionDigital archive coversheet from an RCAHMW survey of Romans Castle, Pembrokeshire, carried out by Louise Barker March 2012.
application/pdfDSC - RCAHMW Digital Survey CollectionSurvey depiction in pdf format from an RCAHMW survey of Romans Castle, Pembrokeshire, carried out by Louise Barker March 2012.
application/pdfDSC - RCAHMW Digital Survey CollectionIllustrated report in pdf format from an RCAHMW survey of Romans Castle, Pembrokeshire, carried out by Louise Barker March 2012.
