LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Gwynedd 810 (None)
NMR: SH 61 NE 1 (302966)
SM: ME008
NGR: SH69401578
X: 269400 Y: 315780 (OSGB36)
High and craggy, irregular sub-oval, contour hillfort on a rocky mountain spur/knoll overlooking Penmaenpool and the Afon Mawddach estuary, only to the W and S works necessary. Surrounding slopes to E and N very steep, S and W moderate to strong, E very steep. Measures c. 70m E-W by 40m with internal area 0.15ha. Well-built, tumbled, dry-stone wall on S and W c. 3m wide and 2.4m plus high with faces of stones built within, defended on E and N by very steep slope. No ditch. Elaborate and impressive S entrance is a particular feature, making use of an oblique gully up to the hillock top. Walling lined a c. 3 m wide passageway (now blocked - deliberate?) with, using a natural boss of rock, a semi-circular bastion guarding the approach. Ill-defined inner enclosure, c. 30m E-W by 20m in NW part of enclosure. No visible structures, but interior has grassy shelves inter-spaced with rocky outcrops. Depression in NE corner possible hut site. Burnt stone exposed by visitor digging. Rough upland grass and bare rock. Tumbled walls. On 1st Ed. OS map (1888-89). Minimal investigations, undated.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -438071 Y: 6932077 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.935260782979355 Latitude: 52.72383353696335 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Wales
Current County or Unitary Authority: Gwynedd
Historic County: Merioneth
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Arthog
Tumbled stone walls.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Rough upland grass and bare rock.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
High and craggy, irregular sub-oval, contour hillfort on a rocky mountain spur/knoll overlooking Penmaenpool and the Afon Mawddach estuary, forming a perfect hillfort site, with only to the W and S defences necessary. Surrounding slopes to E and N very steep, S and W moderate to strong, E very steep.
| 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: Spur/knoll
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 270.0m
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 (1888-89). Ordnance Survey observation 1963, 1973. GAT investigation 1989, 1994. GAT prehistoric defended enclosures survey 2005-2006.
| Other (1985): | Visited by Hillfort Study Group |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (None): | OS map. |
| Other (None): | Ordnance Survey observation. |
| Other (None): | GAT investigation. |
| Other (None): | GAT prehistoric defended enclosures survey. |
Depression in NE corner possible hut site.
Stream 0.5km outside site.
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Depression in NE corner possible hut 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 | ✗ |
Elaborate and impressive S entrance is a particular feature, making use of an oblique gully up to the hillock top. Lined by walling, c. 3 m wide, passageway (now blocked - detail uncertain) with, using a natural boss of rock, a semi-circular bastion guarding the approach.
| None: | Tumbled walls mask estimate. |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Passage-way/Corridor (South): | Uses oblique gully. |
| 1. Oblique (South): | Use of an oblique gully up to the hillock top. |
| 1. Blocked (South): | Detail uncertain. |
Well-built dry-stone wall on S and W c. 3m wide and 2.4m plus high with faces of stones built within, defended on E and N by very steep slope. No ditch. 0.15ha enclosed.
| Area 1: | 0.15ha. |
| Total: | 0.15ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| NW Quadrant: | 0 |
| Total: | 1 |
| Partial Univallate | ✓ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
Stone-walled site.
| 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: 0
| ✗ | None |
Bowen E.G. and Gresham, C.A. 1967. History of Merioneth ,1, Dolgellau, 160-61.
RCAHMW 1921. An inventory of the ancient monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire, VI, County of Merioneth, 9, 21, 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:
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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