NPRN305389
Map ReferenceSM72NW
Grid ReferenceSM7373025090
Unitary (Local) AuthorityPembrokeshire
Old CountyPembrokeshire
CommunitySt Davids and the Cathedral Close
Type Of SiteDEFENDED SETTLEMENT
PeriodNeolithic
DescriptionClegyr Boia is a stone-walled roughly rectangular enclosure, about 86m by 28m, excavated 1902 and 1943, occupying the southern part of an isolated rocky knoll. A radio carbon date obtained from the gate centres on the general period 0BC/AD (James & Williams 1982, 304); pottery found in 1902 was thought to have possibly been wheel-turned; Neolithic ceramics from circular and rectangular internal structures may have been curated.
Sources: Baring-Gould 1903 (AC 3), 1-11;
Williams 1953 (AC102), 20-47;
James & Williams 1982 (in Miles (ed.) BAR Brit. ser.103i), 289-312.
RCAHMW AP945017/42-5; 96501742-3
J.Wiles 12.09.03
Clegyr Boia is a rocky outcrop rising from the coastal plateau to the west of St Davids. Excavations in the first half of the twentieth century confirmed occupation in the Neolithic and Iron Age periods. Dated Neolithic settlements in Wales are extremely rare, but the discovery of crude huts and Neolithic round-bottomed pottery confirms occupation of this rock 5-6,000 years ago. The name Clegyr Boia also associates this outcrop with the stronghold of a sixth-century AD Irish pirate named Boia, and the potential for post-Roman occupation here adds to the rarity and importance of this enduring settlement (RCAHMW, 91-cs-0258).
Extract from: Driver, T. 2007. Pembrokeshire, Historic Landscapes from the Air, RCAHMW, page 98, Figure 148. See also Figure 63.
T. Driver, 28 June 2007