A Survey of Defended Enclosures in Ceredigion, 2006: Gazetteer of Ordnance Survey Grid Square Sn24
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A SURVEY OF DEFENDED ENCLOSURES IN CEREDIGION, 2006: GAZETTEER OF ORDNANCE SURVEY GRID SQUARE SN24 Paratowyd gan Archaeoleg Cambria Ar gyfer Cadw Prepared by Cambria Archaeology ARCHAEOLEG CAMBRIA ARCHAEOLOGY RHIF YR ADRODDIAD / REPORT NO. 2006/20 RHIF Y PROSIECT / PROJECT RECORD NO. 54269 Mawrth 2006 March 2006 A SURVEY OF DEFENDED ENCLOSURES IN CEREDIGION, 2006: GAZETTEER OF ORDNANCE SURVEY GRID SQUARE SN24 Gan / By K Murphy, R Ramsey and M Page Archaeoleg Cambria yw enw marchnata Ymddiriedolaeth Archaeolegol Dyfed Cyfyngedig. Cambria Archaeology is the marketing name of the Dyfed Archaeological Trust Limited. Paratowyd yr adroddiad yma at ddefnydd y cwsmer yn unig. Ni dderbynnir cyfrifoldeb gan Archaeoleg Cambria am ei ddefnyddio gan unrhyw berson na phersonau eraill a fydd yn ei ddarllen neu ddibynnu ar y gwybodaeth y mae’n ei gynnwys The report has been prepared for the specific use of the client. Cambria Archaeology can accept no responsibility for its use by any other person or persons who may read it or rely on the information it contains. ARCHAEOLEG CAMBRIA CAMBRIA ARCHAEOLOGY Ymddiriedolaeth Archaeolegol Dyfed Cyf Dyfed Archaeological Trust Limited Neuadd y Sir, Stryd Caerfyrddin, Llandeilo, Sir Gaerfyrddin SA19 The Shire Hall, Carmarthen Street, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire 6AF SA19 6AF Ffon: Ymholiadau Cyffredinol 01558 823121 Tel: General Enquiries 01558 823121 Adran Rheoli Treftadaeth 01558 823131 Heritage Management Section 01558 823131 Ffacs: 01558 823133 Fax: 01558 823133 Ebost: [email protected] Gwefan: www.acadat.com Email: [email protected] Website: www.acadat.com Cover: Aerial photograph of Cawrence. RCAHMW Crown Copyright © reference 96-cs-1435 SITE GAZETTEER OF 10KM GRID SQUARE SN24 For ease of handing the site gazetteers have been arranged into Ordnance Survey 10km grid squares. Each gazetteer consists of one or more 1:50,000 maps showing the overall location of each site followed by the individual entries for each site. Each entry comprises: a printout from the Historic Environment Record, including a site description; a 1:500 map; and where available a ground photograph and an aerial photograph. Many of the 1;500 maps show details of the site plotted from cropmarks shown on aerial photographs. These plots are supplied by RCAHMW Crown Copyright ©. Index to the gazetteers of defended enclosures and related sites. Gazetteers are arranged by 10km grid squares. 1:50,000 Distribution map of sites in 10km grid square SN24. This map is reproduced from the Ordnance Survey map by the National Assembly for Wales with the permission of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown Copyright and may lead to prosecution and civil proceedings. Licence No. GD 272221 2083 ONNEN-DEG PRN 2083 NGR SN23354344 SITE NAME ONEN-DEG;ONNEN-DEG SITE TYPE DEFENDED ENCLOSURE FORM Earthwork PERIOD Iron Age CONDITION C SITE STATUS SAM DESCRIPTION Onen-deg enclosure lies on a river terrace of the River Teifi, a few metres above the floodplain. To the north the valley side rises steeply above the site. The enclosure area is irregularly shaped, measuring approximately 70m east - west and 70m north - south. It is naturally, but poorly, defended by the steep, but low, slope down to the floodplain to the south and west. A bank and ditch defends the eastern, easily approachable side. This bank is c. 60m long, c. 18m wide and up to 2.5m - 3m high. It is flanked by a silted ditch up to 0.5m deep on its outer, eastern side. Part of the bank is overlain by a hedge-bank. A break in the bank is, according to the Ordnance Survey in 1972, modern. The easily approachable northern side of the enclosure is not obviously defended. However, examination of the ground suggests that an in-filled ditch may run on this side of the enclosure - a continuation of the ditch on the east side. Firmer ground midway along this ditch on its north side may indicate the site of an entrance. It is assumed that there must originally have been a bank accompanying this ditch, otherwise the enclosure would have been open on the north side, and that this has now been removed. Either this, or the defence is unfinished. In 2005 the site was under improved pasture. K Murphy 29 September 2005 Ground photograph looking along defensive bank. 2084 GAER PRN 2084 NGR SN24584327 SITE NAME GAER SITE TYPE DEFENDED ENCLOSURE FORM Earthwork PERIOD Iron Age CONDITION C SITE STATUS DESCRIPTION Located on the crest of a long and fairly steep slope, the earthwork of Gaer commands long ranging views from the northwest through to the south. It is located at a little over 90m above sea level. To the west the land falls away steadily to the floor of the Teifi valley at c. 20m. To the east, north and southeast the land rises very gently towards rounded high points a few hundred metres distant. The earthwork consists of a circular platform about 1.5m high and approximately 35m - 40m across its widest extent, about 20m - 25m diameter across the top of the platform. There is no obvious external ditch and no entrance onto (into) the platform. The internal area is very slightly dished, rather than flat. A slight, wide earthwork bank leads down the steep slope from the platform; this may be a natural feature.In 2005 the site was under improved pasture. The nature of Gaer is uncertain. The platform nature of the earthwork and absence of a ditch do not indicate an Iron Age defended enclosure or a medieval ringwork. It is too large for a prehistoric burialmound. The closest parallels are probably the raised raths of Ireland. K Murphy 30 September 2005 Ground photograph looking at the earthwork of Gaer. 5215 CRUG LLWYN LLWYD PRN 5215 NGR SN20204840 SITE NAME CRUGLLWYN-LLWYD;CRUGLLWYN-CAMP SITE TYPE PROMONTORY FORT FORM Earthwork PERIOD Iron Age CONDITION E SITE STATUS DESCRIPTION Promontory fort Quarrying for sand and gravel has destroyed this site. It formerly consisted of a single bank and ditch up to 4m high and 130m long thrown up across the easily approachable side of an inland promontory, enclosing an area of c. 0.65ha. No record of the site was made before its destruction. John Williams of Troedyrhiw can remember seeing stone lined 'bee-hived' shaped pits exposed in the quarry face within what would have been the fort. K Murphy 14 October 2005 5221 GAER PWNTAN PRN 5221 NGR SN29214935 SITE NAME PEN-Y-GAER;GAER PWNTAN;CASTELL PWNTAN SITE TYPE HILLFORT FORM Earthwork PERIOD Iron Age CONDITION D SITE STATUS DESCRIPTION Gaer Pwtan occupies the summit of a rounded hill at approximately 220m above sea level. The hilltop was subjected to extensive quarrying in the 19th century; this has destroyed much of the hillfort's interior. However, significant remains survive. It is a bivallate, oval or circular hillfort, with widely spaced ramparts. These survive best on the south side and north side. On the south side low earthworks up to 140m long and up to 0.8m high in improved pasture mark the lines of banks and ditches. However, some care has to be exercised in this interpretation as vertical aerial photographs taken in the 1940s indicate that small-scale quarrying may have taken place here. On the north side of the fort a similar length of the defensive circuit also survives, also in improved pasture, but here the earthworks are much slighter. The defences on the western side have been destroyed by quarrying, while a watching brief during the construction of a phone mast on the east side showed that the ditch of the outer rampart survives below ground, but it is likely that the remainder of the ramparts has been estroyed in this section. The interior area of the hillfort measures approximately 120m diameter with a diameter of approximately 200m to the limits of the outer defensive circuit. There is a gap of about 20m between the inner and outer ramparts. As noted above almost all of the interior (including that part now occupied by a farm) has been destroyed. It is likely that the entrance has also been destroyed. K Murphy 10 October 2005 Aerial photograph RCAHMW Crown Copyright © reference 99-cs-2290. Ground photograph - general shot of site from a distance. 5838 WAUNLLE PRN 5838 NGR SN22574912 SITE NAME WAUNLLE SITE TYPE DEFENDED ENCLOSURE FORM Cropmark PERIOD Iron Age CONDITION D SITE STATUS DESCRIPTION Lying towards the southern end of a rounded hilltop at approximately 170m, Waunlle is a well-defined cropmark defended enclosure. Land falls gently away from the site of the enclosure except to the north where it is fairly level. Aerial photographs show a very distinct site with a circular cropmark ditch approximately 44m diameter lying within the southwest quadrant of a larger elliptical enclosure. This larger enclosure measures 160m north - south and 140m east - west. A break on the northwest side of the inner enclosure may mark an entrance. A clear break in the west side of the outer enclosure is an entrance. There is no earthwork or other surface evidence for the outer enclosure, but a platform of just 10cm - 20cm seems to correspond with the location of the inner enclosure. Part of the site was the subject of a geophysical survey in 2005. The ditches of both enclosures are very clear in the survey with part of an extra enclosure abutting the outer enclosure to the south. It is possible to see this in the aerial photograph; although without the gradiometer results it would be difficult to interpret this as archaeological rather than geological. Despite the clearness of the ditches on the results plot it is still quite difficult to locate the entranceway to the inner enclosure.