1. The Wellington Monument is a stone column built on the summit of the south fort at Pendinas. A memorial to the Duke of Wellington, it was probably erected in 1858 or a year or two before. The main person responsible for seeing to its construction was W.E. Richards of Bryneithin. The monument takes the form of an eighteen metre high upended cannon. It is built of stone rubble and rises from a square podium, the shaft tapers before ariving at a swept out funnel. It is thought that the column was intended to carry at statue at the top, which was never installed. The monument serves to pinpoint the great later prehistoric hillfort crowning the hill (NPRN 92236). The monument was fully restored in 1999, following a lightning strike in 1997, with a replacement rounded slate surround at its top specially made at Blaenau Ffestiniog.

Source: CADW Listed Buildings Database (10420)

2. The shale/slate pediment around the lower part of the monument is inscribed with copious historic, and recent, graffiti.

3. Text from 'Discovering Pendinas Hillfort' (2023). [long version, prior to final editing for publication]

The 18 metre (59 feet) high monument to the Duke of Wellington on the summit of Pendinas is visible for miles around. It was begun in 1853, soon after the death of the Duke of Wellington, and completed by 1858. Colonel W. E. Richards raised funds by public subscription for its erection, but a planned statue of Wellington destined for its top was never completed. The tower, built of local coursed rubble, stands on a concrete base and tapers towards the top in the form of an upturned cannon or industrial style chimney. Today it is a Grade II Listed Building.

The Wellington Monument was not an immediate hit; the 1898 Thorough Guide to North Wales describes it as ‘…a very ugly memorial to the Duke of Wellington’!  But by the early part of the twentieth century it had become a popular destination for walkers from the town centre. If you look at the pediment around its base in raking light you will see a mass of graffiti – names, initials, love hearts – carved over the last 160 years.

The height of the monument has made it an unfortunate target for lightning strikes over the years. Photographs by Arthur Chater from 1969 show the top badly damaged. In the summer of 1997, a lightning strike blew stones of its top and it was repaired with a specially made slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog quarry.  It was struck again over the Christmas period late in 2023, loosening stones on its top. This time the Royal Commission flew their drone over the top to record the damage for Ceredigion County Council.

Occasionally the recent history of the hilltop is revealed. A large bracken fire swept the southern hillfort and coastal slopes in 1999, revealing surface finds of part of a medieval jug, 18th or 19th century pottery sherds, two marbles and a 1967 sixpence. These show just how popular the hill and its monument have become for walkers and picnickers over the years. The finds can now be seen on display in Amgueddfa Ceredigion Museum.

T. Driver, RCAHMW, 29 Feb 2008. Updated by Toby Driver, January 2025

References:

Browne, D and Driver, T, 2001. Bryngaer Pen Dinas Hill-fort, A Prehistoric Fortress at Aberystwyth, RCAHMW.

Driver, T. and Murphy, K. 2024. Discovering Pendinas Hillfort, Penparcau, Aberystwyth. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales and Heneb: The Trust for Welsh Archaeology