LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Clwyd Powys 101299 (None)
NMR: SJ 35 NE (None)
SM: None
NGR: SJ35825585
X: 335820 Y: 355850 (OSGB36)
Former inland promontory fort located at NE end of narrow, N-facing steep-sided ridge above the Afon Alun to W and N where sharply bends to flow in to River Dee to E. Prominent views over Cheshire Plain to E. Steep slopes to N, E and W, moderate along ridge to S and SW. Destroyed by sand and gravel quarry. Three massive banks with ditches, running NE-SW, cut of the promontory on the S, c. 80m long and up to 8m high. Referred to by Ellis Davies (1949, 239-41) as having remains of three short stretches of rampart of gravel. Antiquarian references. Former motte at N extremity of promontory. On 1st Ed. OS map (1872-73). Minimal investigations, undated.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -329497 Y: 7000768 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -2.9599261490685085 Latitude: 53.09596309096518 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Wales
Current County or Unitary Authority: Wrexham
Historic County: Flintshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Gresford
Substantially destroyed by sand and gravel quarry.
| Extant | ✗ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✓ |
Now former quarry.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✗ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
Former inland promontory fort located at N end of narrow, N-facing steep-sided ridge above the Afon Alun to W and N where sharply bends to flow in to River Dee to E. Prominent views over Cheshire Plain to E. Steep slopes to N, E and W, moderate along ridge to S and SW.
| 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: Ridge
| North | ✓ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 65.0m
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: | Former motte at N extremity of promontory. |
Mentioned by Thomas Pennant in Tours in Wales of 1778. In Gough's 1806 edition of Camden's Britannia. On 1st Ed. OS map (1872-73). CPAT defended enclosures in North-east Wales survey 2007-08.
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1588): | In Gough's 1806 edition of Camden's Britannia. |
| Other (1778): | Pennant mention. |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (None): | OS map. |
| Other (None): | CPAT defended enclosures in North-east Wales survey. |
Destroyed.
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| 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 | ✗ |
None defined, but possibly gap through banks on SE.
| 1: | Conjecture only. |
| 2: | Conjecture only. |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South east): | Conjecture only. |
Two massive banks with ditches cut of the promontory on the S, c. 80m long and up to 8m high.
| Area 1: | Noneha. |
| Total: | Noneha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | Area not defined, but topographically must have extended to at least 4.5 ha. |
| ✗ | Banks cut off promontory on S. |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SW Quadrant: | 2 |
| NW Quadrant: | 0 |
| Total: | 2 |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✓ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
Banks composed of gravel according to Ellis Davies (1949, 240).
| 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 |
Number of Ditches: 2
| ✗ | None |
Camden, W. 1806 edition. Britannia, Ed R. Gough, London, 228.
Davies, Canon Ellis 1949. The prehistoric and Roman remains of Flintshire, Cardiff: William Lewis.
Grant, I. and Jones, N.W. 2008. Defended enclosures in North-east Wales, 2007-08, Project Report, CPAT Report No 921, Welshpool: CPAT.
Pennant, T. 1883 edition. Tours in Wales by Thomas Pennant Esq, Vol. I, Ed J. Rhys, Caernarfon: H. Humphreys, 390-91.
Atlas of Hillforts:
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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