1. Cropmarks show bivallate ditched defences cutting across the neck of land which separates the protruding Moel y Don promontory from the mainland. These extend for approx. 167m across the neck, and enclose an area of approximately 2.26 hectares. Recorded during RCAHMW aerial reconnaissance.
T. Driver, RCAHMW, 27th Feb 2010.
2. Moel y Don is a well-defined coastal promontory on the Menai Strait, thought to have been the site of a thirteenth-century battle which research now suggests may have happened elsewhere on the Strait (see NPRN 404319). The promontory was also long-used as an historic ferry point across the Strait as it provides one of the narrowest points. The promontory is for the most part low-lying, even partly under water and marsh around its northern edge, but at its south-east terminal is a 2-3m high gravel bank fronting the estuary; it unclear whether this terminal bank is a geomorphological feature or has been built up artificially.
The remains of an artificial defence, a 220m long spread earthwork bank, cuts north-east/south-west across the headland. It is currently some 26m wide and stands around 1m high, with an outer ditch on the north-west side. A combination of drought parchmarks on Royal Commission aerial photos, terrain data on 2023 1m-resolution LiDAR and parchmarks on vertical aerial photography on GoogleEarth (accessed 2024) suggest a more complex defensive arrangement. This comprises bivallate narrow ditches or palisade footings on the east (innermost side) of the main earthwork rampart, together with an outer palisade on the west side some 20m beyond the rampart. These defences looks highly organised, and could suggest the existance of a Roman defensive ‘beach-head’ at Moel-y-Don, potentially established during one of the Roman invasions of Anglesey.
The promontory fort, such as it is, would be convincing as a later prehistoric, Roman or early medieval coastal defensive site. The low-lying grassland of the promontory would repay a geophysical survey.
Visited by Toby Driver and Louise Barker for the Royal Commission, 18th Sept 2024
Dr T. Driver and L. Barker, RCAHMW. 2024 and 2025