LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Glamorgan Gwent 00280w (None)
NMR: SS 58 NW 16 (54485)
SM: None
NGR: SS51888796
X: 251880 Y: 187960 (OSGB36)
Small inland promontory fort sited sited on S-facing limestone outcrop in Crawley Woods above Nicholaston Burrows and overlooking Oxwich Bay on the Gower opposite Oxwich Point and Maiden Castle, Oxwich, near inlet and possible landing place of Nicholaston Pill. Surrounding slopes steep on N, E and W, very steep on S. First recorded in 1949. Although suggested by RCAHMW as possibly medieval of 12th century AD (RCAHMW, 1976, 460), sherd of Late Iron Age pottery found by Rutter (1948). Two earth and stone ramparts and two ditches run for 35m across neck of the promontory to N, enclosing c. 0.1ha. Outer bank 7m wide and 1.3m high with external ditch only visible to the NW, rest of ditch gone by modern field boundaries. Inner bank c. 1m high and 8.5m wide, separated from external bank by another ditch. Total defences 22m wide. Densely overgrown with trees and scrub. On 1st Ed. OS map (1879).
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -460721 Y: 6722917 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -4.138727763816184 Latitude: 51.570954270851885 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Wales
Current County or Unitary Authority: Swansea
Historic County: Glamorgan
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Ilston
Damaged and with modern field boundaries.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Densely overgrown with trees and scrub.
| Woodland | ✓ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✗ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✓ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Small inland promontory fort sited on S-facing limestone outcrop enclosure in Crawley Woods above Nicholaston Burrows overlooking Oxwich Bay on the Gower opposite Oxwich Point and Maiden Castle, Oxwich, near inlet and possible landing place of Nicholaston Pill, 0.2km from sea. Surrounding slopes steep on N, E and W, very steep on S.
| 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: Outcrop
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✓ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 60.0m
N/A
Possibly pre-Roman as sherd of Late Iron Age pottery found, but has been suggested as medieval (RCAHMW 1976, 46), but uncertain.
Reliability: C - Low
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✓ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
| Artefactual: | Sherd of Late Iron Age pottery. |
On 1st Ed. OS map (1879). Investigation by Rutter 1949. RCAHMW investigation 1967. GGAT Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan survey 2005.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1879): | OS map. |
| Other (1949): | Investigation by Rutter. |
| Other (1967): | RCAHMW investigation. |
| Other (2005): | GGAT Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan. survey |
Sherd of black pre-Roman pottery found 1949 by Rutter on outer embankment, suggested of early Iron Age date. Also found flint flake and pot boiler.
Spring 0.4km outside fort.
| 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 | ✗ |
Sherd of black pre-Roman (Late Iron Age) pottery found 1949 by Rutter on outer embankment, suggested of early Iron Age date. Also found flint flake and pot boiler.
| 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 | ✗ |
No definite entrance visible, but Rutter (1949, 12) suggested depression in outer bank towards W end possible entrance, but none in inner bank.
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (West): | Possible entrance only. |
Two banks and ditches run for 35m across neck of the promontory to N, enclosing c. 0.1ha. Outer bank 7m wide and 1.3m high with external ditch only visible to the NW, rest of ditch destroyed by modern field boundaries. Inner bank c. 1m high and 8.5m wide, separated from external bank by another ditch. Total defences 22m wide.
| Area 1: | 0.1ha. |
| Total: | 0.1ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SW Quadrant: | 0 |
| NW Quadrant: | 2 |
| Total: | 2 |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✓ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
Earth and stone ramparts.
| 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 |
Gerrard, C., Wiggins, H., and Evans, E. 2006. Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan with recommendations for fieldwork: Year 3 Report, GGAT Report No 2006/089, Project No GGAT78, Swansea: GGAT.
RCAHMW 1976. An inventory of the ancient monuments in Glamorgan, 1.2, Pre-Norman, Parts I-III, 675, Cardiff: HMSO.
Rutter, J.G. 1948. Prehistoric Gower: the early archaeology of West Glamorgan.
Savory, H.N. 1954. List of hill-forts and other earthworks in Wales and Monmouthshire, Bull Board Celtic Stud, 15, 229.
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