Royal Commission aerial reconnaissance during July 2013 revealed one of the most complex lowland defended enclosures in Pembrokeshire, sited on the rounded south-west facing spur of Conkland Hill, south-west of Wiston village. Despite many years of archaeological aerial reconnaissance in the vicinity of Wiston, and the southern part of the field having been crossed in 2006 by the LNG pipeline, this is the first recorded archaeology on the hill.

The main enclosure is of concentric-antenna type, measuring 250m x 208m diameter overall, with bivallate outer defences enclosing 4.09 hectares. The outer enclosure ditches comprise, on the east side, a sweeping bivallate arc curving around to the south-east where they form a pronounced in-turned entrance gap. The outer defences can be traced on the west side but they incorporate an earlier ditched or palisaded enclosure of which a bivallate arc 130m long survives (see below). Off-centre within the main enclosure is a smaller inner univallate enclosure approx. 50m diameter (enclosing 0.2 hectares) with a curving north-west antenna entrance; its junction with the outer enclosure is confused by a series of ditches. A D-shaped annex is appended to this inner enclosure.

At the north-west point where the antenna entrance should exit the outer enclosure the plan is confused by a second bivallate arc of segmented ditches which sweep in to cut across, or underlie, the north-west part of the concentric enclosure. Although appearing as an arc from a larger, intersecting enclosure they cannot be clearly traced any further west. Therefore it appears this may be a complex annex arrangement of the main enclosure. On the south side, the main concentric enclosure is interrupted by further arcs of additional enclosures. Some 80m west of the main enclosures can be seen cropmarks of two straight ditches with atleast one gap, of different character to the enclosures.

Taken together this enclosure complex is not straightforward and apparently represents more than a single phase of enclosure, settlement and reoccupation of the same hill. Further work is requried to clarify the exact plan of the monuments.

T. Driver, RCAHMW, Dec 2013. Updated June 2014