The ridge between Hafoty Sion Lwyd (NPRN 27278) and Hen Ddinbych (NPRN 303472) is crossed by a field system, comprised of three curving earthworks, a bank 323m long with a ditch on its west side, a ditch 223m long and a scarp 300m in length. These run parallel with each other, are 50m apart and appear to enclose two strip fields and one larger field, all of which exhibit signs of cultivation (NPRN 411899). The earthworks are visible as they run down the ridge, however aerial photographs indicate they continued across the ridge and thus enclosed a relatively large area to the north of Aber Llech-Daniel. The two northern most earthworks appear low and degraded, no more than 0.3m high or deep, whilst the bank and ditch enclosing the larger field on the south is more extant and may well have been modified and continued in use for longer.

The northern most earthwork, that appears on the ground as a scarp, was excavated in 1974 as part of the Brenig Valley excavations, carried out in advance of the construction of the Brenig reservoir. This revealed a bank 1.75m wide built entirely of dark, peaty soil. It had been built on a surface of dark black peat with characteristic cracking. It was concluded therefore that the bank was of no great age and likely to have been associated with the 19thcentury Hafoty Sion Lwyd (NPRN 27278). It should however be noted that the layout of the field system strongly suggests an association with the nearby medieval vaccary of Hen Ddinbych (NPRN 303472)

This field system was surveyed as part of the 2009 RCAHMW survey of the Hen Ddinbych landscape (NPRN 411894)

Louise Barker, RCAHMW, October 2010

Sources
Lynch F, 1993 Excavations in the Brenig Valley. A Mesolithic and Bronze Age Landscape in North Wales. Cambrian Archaeological Association, 220