LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Clwyd Powys 100495 (None)
NMR: SH 97 NW 15 (94799)
SM: DE114
NGR: SH93607672
X: 293600 Y: 376720 (OSGB36)
Prominent contour hillfort located in commanding position on limestone outcrop above coastal plain and levels and sea at Abergele. Very steep surrounding slopes. Steep or very steep slopes to N , S and W, precipitous crags to E. Sub-rectangular in shape c. 186m N-S by 130m, with internal area c. 1.6ha. On E and S the very steep slopes, elsewhere is a bank, probably a stone or rubble wall, no ditch. Long quarry ditch with good walling a feature of site. Pronounced inturned entrance on W, with one inturn much longer than the other, possibly to accommodate a single guard chamber. Good condition despite dense overgrown woodland and scrub and best seen from SW. Woodland Trust site. On 1st Ed. OS map (1872). Minimal investigations, undated.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -400436 Y: 7034352 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.5971808929995244 Latitude: 53.27673938808642 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Wales
Current County or Unitary Authority: Conwy
Historic County: Denbighshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Abergele
Good condition despite dense overgrown woodland and scrub and best seen from SW. In Gwrych Castle Wood. Woodland Trust site.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Dense woodland and scrub.
| Woodland | ✓ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✗ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✓ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Wooded contour hillfort located on limestone outcrop above coastal plain and sea at Abergele.
| Contour Fort | ✓ |
| Partial Contour Fort | ✗ |
| Promontory Fort | ✗ |
| Hillslope Fort | ✗ |
| Level Terrain Fort | ✗ |
| Marsh Fort | ✗ |
| Multiple Enclosure Fort | ✗ |
| Hilltop | ✓ |
| Coastal Promontory | ✗ |
| Inland Promontory | ✗ |
| Valley Bottom | ✗ |
| Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop | ✓ |
| Ridge | ✗ |
| Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp | ✗ |
| Hillslope | ✗ |
| Lowland | ✗ |
| Spur | ✗ |
Dominant Topographic Feature: Hill top
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 170.0m
N/A
None
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
On 1st Ed. OS map (1872).
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1872): | OS map. |
Long quarry ditch with good walling a feature of site.
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Long quarry ditch with good walling a feature of site.
| No Known Features | ✗ |
| Round Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✓ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| No Known Excavation | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| No Known Geophysics | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| No Known Finds | ✓ |
| Pottery | ✗ |
| Metal | ✗ |
| Metalworking | ✗ |
| Human Bones | ✗ |
| Animal Bones | ✗ |
| Lithics | ✗ |
| Environmental | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| APs Not Checked | ✓ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Pronounced inturned entrance on W, with one inturn much longer than the other, possibly to accommodate a single guard chamber.
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✓
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. In-turned (West): | One inturn much longer than the other, |
| 1. Recesses/Guard Chambers (West): | None |
On E and S the very steep and precipitous slopes and crags, elsewhere is a bank, probably a stone or rubble wall. No ditch.
| Area 1: | 1.6ha. |
| Total: | 1.6ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| NW Quadrant: | 1 |
| Total: | 1 |
| Partial Univallate | ✓ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
Probable stone or rubble wall.
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✗ |
| Stone Wall | ✓ |
| Rubble | ✓ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✗ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Murus Duplex | ✗ |
| Timber-framed | ✗ |
| Timber-laced | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation | ✓ |
| Other | ✗ |
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None in evidence. |
Number of Ditches: 0
| ✗ | None |
Brown, I. Beacons in the landscape. The hillforts of England and Wales, Oxford: Windgather Press/Oxbow Books.
Burnham, H. 1995. A guide to ancient and historic Wales - Clwyd and Powys, London: HMSO, 193.
Davies, Canon Ellis 1929. The prehistoric and Roman remains of Denbighshire, Cardiff: William Lewis, 35.
Forde-Johnston, J. 1964. Field work on the hillforts of North Wales, Flintshire Hist Soc Pubs, 21, 1-20.
Atlas of Hillforts:
Wikidata:
This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
and should be cited as:
Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk
Document Version 1.1