DescriptionA relatively well-preserved bi-vallate promontory fort, partially covered with scrub on a conspicuous headland west of Pwll-Du. Orientated NE-SW there are steep slopes on all sides except the north east. A ridge of exposed bedrock divides the fort into two unequal sections; the larger on the west measures ca 85m by 43m and the smaller to the east measures 25m by 20m
The innermost rampart runs across the entire width of the promontory though west of the ridge there is a double scarp separated by a shallow ditch, the whole defence being about 10-12m, wide whereas east of the ridge there is a rampart and external ditch approximately 9m wide and at most 1.5m high. The entrance is marked by a gap in the bank and a causeway across the ditch. The outer defence runs from the central ridge to the south-facing cliffs and again consists of a bank and external ditch with an entrance at the southern end. More precise dimensions can be found in the SMR record card, a copy of which is bound into the back of the report.
The fort was excavated by A. Williams in 1939. The entrance through the inner rampart was shown to consist of two rectangular ramparts each revetted with rectangular blocks separated by three post holes probably indicating a double gate. A rock-cut gully running parallel to the rampart just north-west of the entrance which terminated in a substantial rectangular pit was interpreted as a drainage gully (Williams 1941). However, H. Owen-John has suggested that it may be evidence of a palisade trench and also points out that the well-defined core of the innermost rampart could indicate two phases of occupation. Three huts or occupation floors were discovered, one just inside the entrance. Small finds included animal bones, shells, sling stones, blue-green glass, a spindle whorl and a rim sherd or a bowl dated to the late 1st-2nd century A.D.
Source Emma Plunkett Dillon NT report ca 1988
John Latham RCAHMW 21 April 2015
NAR: SS58NE9 SS 5677 8665
1. This site appears essentially unchanged since the last Royal Commission visit here in 1965. Differences between the plans of the Commission and OS (Antiquity Model) seem to be little more than differences of scale.
The earthwork is now heavily overgrown with gorse, brambles and bracken.
visited DKL 29 October 1992
2. A coastal promontory fort, formed by a bank and ditch c.90m in length cutting off the approach to a cliff-top headland from the NE. A NE-SW cliff divides the enclosure into an upper E area, c.20m by 25m and a lower W area, 85m by 43m.
Excavations in 1940 recorded details of the ramparts, together with an outer E rampart, and three house sites; finds indicated 1st-2nd C. AD occupation.
Source: Williams 1941 (AC 96), 23-30.
RCAHMW AP94-CS 0648-9
RCAHMW AP945086/46-9
J.Wiles 09.07.02