LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Gwynedd 446 (None)
NMR: SH 33 NW 1 (95271)
SM: CN009
NGR: SH31003930
X: 231000 Y: 339300 (OSGB36)
Large, stone-built contour hillfort on Yr Eifl on the Ll_n Peninsula. With Tre'r Ceiri (Atlas No 1685) and Garn Fadrun (Atlas No 1678) one of the finest stone- walled hillforts in Wales. Steep surrounding slopes. Measures c. 512m N-S by 384m with internal area 11.2ha. Like Tre'r Ceiri uses natural rock outcrops. Defined by two circuits of somewhat divergent stone walls, no ditches. Best preserved wall at the NE. Strong, probably later, 'citadel' with stone wall sited on highest part at E end measuring c. 70m from N-S by 30m. Steep annexe on W. Both main enclosure and 'citadel' have two gates, one of each being anciently blocked. 170+ huts on natural shelves identified, now seen as rings of stone, some grass-covered. Site shows evidence of remodelling. Excavations by A.H.A. Hogg 1954. Single sherd of pottery indicates 2nd century AD occupation, but site almost certainly Iron Age in origin. Moorland and rough upland grass with much bare rock. On 1st Ed. OS map (1889).
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -502664 Y: 6969032 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -4.515505455675085 Latitude: 52.92443009674668 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Wales
Current County or Unitary Authority: Gwynedd
Historic County: Caernarfonshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Buan
Fine hillfort. Modern stone built shelters and cairn from walls problem.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Moorland and rough upland grass with much bare rock.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✓ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Large fine stone-built fort on Yr Eifl on the Ll_n Peninsula. Like Tre'r Ceiri uses natural rock outcrops. Steep surrounding slopes.
| 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: 260.0m
N/A
Single sherd of pottery indicates second century AD occupation, but site almost certainly Iron Age with possible earlier origins.
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: | Single sherd of pottery. |
| Morphology/Earthwork/Typology: | Iron Age or earlier origins. |
On 1st Ed. OS map (1889). RCAHMW investigation 1951-54. Excavation by A.H.A. Hogg 1954. Ordnance Survey observations 1971, 1975. GAT prehistoric defended enclosures survey 2005-2006.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1889): | OS map. |
| Excavation (1954): | A.H.A. Hogg. |
| Other (1967): | Visit by the Hillfort Study Group |
| Other (2005): | Visited by Hillfort Study Group |
| Other (None): | RCAHMW investigation. |
| Other (None): | Ordnance Survey observations. |
| Other (None): | GAT prehistoric defended enclosures survey 2005-2006. |
170+ huts on natural shelves. Generally c. 5.2-7.3m in diameter. Single sherd of second century AD pottery. Glass bead of 5th or 6th century.
Springs on site.
| None | ✗ |
| Spring | ✓ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
170+, probable stone, huts on natural shelves, now grass covered. Generally c. 5.2-7.3m in diameter.
| 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 | ✗ |
Single sherd of second century AD pottery. Glass bead of fifth or sixth century BC.
| 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 | ✗ |
Two main entrances. That to NE blocked in antiquity. The S entrance is in a natural gully cut diagonally through the rampart. In the citadel W entrance was blocked in antiquity and that to S is damaged.
| 4: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Blocked (North east): | Simple gap blocked in antiquity. |
| 2. Simple Gap (South): | The S entrance is in a natural gully cut diagonally through the rampart. |
| 2. Oblique (South): | The S entrance is in a natural gully cut diagonally through the rampart. |
| 2. Hollow Way (None): | The S entrance is in a natural gully cut diagonally through the rampart. |
| 3. Simple Gap (West): | Citadel entrance blocked in antiquity. |
| 3. Blocked (West): | Citadel entrance blocked in antiquity. |
| 4. Simple Gap (South): | Damaged. |
Defined by two circuits of somewhat divergent stone walls, no ditches. Best preserved wall at the NE. Strong, probably later, 'citadel' with stone wall sited on highest part at E end measuring c. 70m from N-S by 30m.
| Area 1: | 11.2ha. |
| Total: | 11.2ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✓ | Shows evidence of remodelling. |
| ✓ | Two somewhat divergent stone walls. |
| NE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SW Quadrant: | 2 |
| NW Quadrant: | 2 |
| Total: | 2 |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✓ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
Stone-walled site. Possible wall walk.
| 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 |
| ✗ | No ditches. |
Number of Ditches: 0
| ✓ | Steep annexe on W. |
Hogg, A.H.A. 1962. Garn Boduan and Tre'r Ceiri, excavations at two Caernarvonshire hill-forts, Arch J, 117, 1-39. A
Lynch, F. 1995. A guide to ancient and historic Wales - Gwynedd, London: HMSO, 77-8.
RCAHMW 1964. Caernarvonshire Vol III: West, A survey and inventory by the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire, No 1524, London: HMSO.
Smith, G.H. 2006. A survey of prehistoric defended enclosures in north-west Wales 2005-2006: Gwynedd Dwyfor and Meirionnydd. Report No 634. Part I: Survey Report. Bangor: Gwynedd Archaeological Trust.
Waddington, K. 2013. The Settlements of Northwest Wales: From the Late Bronze Age to the Early Medieval Period, Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
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