LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
Scroll left/right to view further images.
HER: Clwyd Powys 1704 (None)
NMR: SJ 31 SW 9 (307135)
SM: MG007(POW)
NGR: SJ30551335
X: 330550 Y: 313350 (OSGB36)
Well preserved, steep, contour hillfort crowning Middletown Hill opposite to Y Breiddin (Atlas No 1276 ) and near Bausley Hill (Atlas No 1197) and New Pieces (Atlas No 1536) hillforts in the Breidden Hills. England/Wales border just outside fort to NE. Surrounding slopes precipitous to N, very steep elsewhere. Elongated oval in plan measuring c. 174m NE-SW to by 70m, site with internal area 0.8ha. Site has an enclosing rampart of earth with strong stone content and external berm showing where the ditch once was. Inturned entrances to NE and SW sides. Possible outworks to both entrances. Part of outwork c. 0.44m beyond the SW entrance gate possibly natural spur. Quarry scoops are visible behind the rampart of the main enclosure. Rough upland grazing. On 1st Ed. OS map (1886-87). Minimal investigations, undated.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -337245 Y: 6930143 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.0295190482525762 Latitude: 52.71331112980588 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Wales
Current County or Unitary Authority: Powys
Historic County: Montgomeryshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Trewern
Good condition but ditch barely visible now. Excellent view of site from Y Breiddin.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Rough upland grazing.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Steep contour fort crowning Middletown Hill opposite to the Breiddin and New Pieces in the Breidden Hills. Surrounding slopes precipitous to N, very steep elsewhere.
| 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: 343.0m
N/A
None.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | Cairn within enclosure. |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
On 1st Ed. OS map (1886-87). CPAT investigations 1978, 1992. CPAT Montgomeryshire Small enclosures project 1990-97.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (None): | OS map. |
| Other (None): | CPAT investigations. |
| Other (None): | CPAT Montgomeryshire Small enclosures project. |
Quarry scoops are visible behind the rampart of the main enclosure.
Stream 0.3km outside fort.
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Quarry scoops are visible behind the rampart of the main enclosure.
| 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 | ✗ |
Inturned entrances to NE and SW sides. Possible outworks to both entrances. Part of outwork c. 0.44m beyond the SW entrance gate possibly natural spur.
| 2: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. In-turned (South west): | Possible outworks. |
| 1. Outworks (South west): | Possible outworks, but part possible natural spur. |
| 2. In-turned (North west): | Possible outworks. |
| 2. Outworks (North west): | Possible outworks. |
Site has an enclosing rampart of earth with strong stone content and external berm showing where the ditch once was.
| Area 1: | 0.8ha. |
| Total: | 0.8ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| 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 | ✗ |
Rampart of earth with strong stone content. Ditch now shows as a berm.
| 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 |
| ✓ | Ditch now shows as a berm. |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✓ | Small annexe beyond the SW entrance gate. |
Lines, H. H. 1889. Breidden Hill camp and other camps in the vicinity , Montgomeryshire Collect, 23, 321-44.
Musson, C. 2012. Montgomeryshire hillforts and enclosures from the air, in Britnell, W.J. and Silvester, R.J. (eds) Reflections on the past. Essays in honour of Frances Lynch. Cambrian Archaeological Association, 351-368.
O'Neil, B. H. St. J. 1937. Excavations at Breiddin Hill Camp, Montgomeryshire, 1933-35 , Arch Camb, 92, 86-128.
Silvester, R.J. and Britnell, W.J. 1993. Montgomeryshire small enclosures project. Summary Report 1993, CPAT Report No 80, Welshpool, Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust.
Spurgeon, C.J. 1972. Enclosures of Iron Age type in the Upper Severn Basin, In Lynch, F. and Burgess, C. (eds.) 1972, Prehistoric man in Wales and the West, 332, Bath: Adams and Dart.
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