1. The Neolithic palisaded enclosure at Hindwell is set in the heart of the Walton Basin, a large fertile plain ringed by mountains. The roughly oval 34ha enclosure, about 880m east-west by 540m, was first recorded as a cropmark feature from the air and then explored by selective trenching and geophysical survey. It is defined by a circuit of pits 2.0m across and 2.0m deep, which once held great posts, 0.8m in diameter. Only a single narrow entrance is known at the western end, flanked by huge 6.0m diameter pits. Radiocarbon determinations point to a construction date around 2,700 BC.

It is thought that this was a place of ceremony and ritual, perhaps hosting festivals attended by people from a wide area. Its construction would have been a terrible undertaking, requiring vast amounts of labour and materials. Several Roman military works, a fort (NPRN 300470) and two temporary camps (NPRN 302933; 308247), were built over the great enclosure and this implies that it retained something of its then ancient significance.

Nothing of the monument can now be seen on the ground, however, the curve of the modern lane follows the northern arc of the 4,700 year old enclosure.

Sources: Gibson in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology 15 (1996), 341-8
in the Transactions of the Radnorshire Society 67 (1997), 20-62
in Archaeology in Wales 38 (1998), 56-9
'The Walton Basin Project' (1999), CBA Research Report 118
'The Walton Basin: Survey at the Hindwell Neolithic Enclosure' (1999), CPAT

John Wiles 22.02.08

2. In 2009-2010 traces of two very large prehistoric enclosures were confirmed to the east of Hindwell Roman fort, these being a triple-ditched enclosure (NPRN 410154) and a double-ditched enclosure (NPRN 411603), both of which may be related to the main palisaded enclosure.

T. Driver, RCAHMW, 7th Sept 2010.