LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Gwynedd 1206 (None)
NMR: SH 22 NW 13 (302248)
SM: None
NGR: SH22802746
X: 222800 Y: 327460 (OSGB36)
Small, oval-shaped, stone-built contour hillfort sited on spine of rocky ridge which rests on cliffs on the NW above Porth Neigiol (Hell's Mouth) and sea (0.6km). Surrounding slopes steep, very steep and precipitous in places. Measures an irregular c. 115m NE-SW by 50m with internal area 0.47ha. Makes extensive use of the rocky natural features of the site and incorporates the highest point of the ridge at SW end. Apart from natural precipices, defences consist of massive stone wall c. 2.m to 3.5m in width and follows 230m contour round the NE end falling to 225m on E before rising to 240 at the SE end. No ditch visible. Large natural gully on NW side forms the entrance, but now obscured. Site divided by, probably secondary, stone wall. Formerly SW three stone-walled roundhouses, c. 4.8-6.1m in diameter visible; now only two can be traced. Outside extensive 'Celtic' field systems and later medieval evidence. Rough upland grazing and bare rock. Tumbled walls, but fair condition generally. Minimal investigations, undated.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -515510 Y: 6948936 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -4.630906521638087 Latitude: 52.815462730124025 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Wales
Current County or Unitary Authority: Gwynedd
Historic County: Caernarfonshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Aberdaron
Tumbled walls, but fair condition. Entrance now obscured by fallen rocks and modern walling. Hillfort is divided into two parts by probably secondary stone wall running roughly N and incorporating the central spine of rock inside the fort.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Rough upland grazing and bare rock.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Small, oval-shaped, stone-built contour hillfort above Porth Neigiol (Hell's Mouth)and sea (0.6km). Surrounding slopes steep, very steep and precipitous in places.
| 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: Rocky ridge
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 240.0m
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 |
Ordnance Survey observation 1972. GAT site investigation 1979. GAT prehistoric defended enclosures survey 2005-2006.
| Other (1972): | Ordnance Survey observation. |
| Other (1979): | GAT investigation. |
| Other (None): | GAT prehistoric defended enclosures survey. |
In SW three stone-walled roundhouses, c. 4.8-6.1m in diameter.
Stream 0.8km outside fort.
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
In SW three stone-walled roundhouses, c. 4.8-6.1m 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 | ✗ |
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 | ✗ |
One original entrance uses wide natural gully through W crags, but now obscured by fallen rocks and modern walling.
| 7: | Gaps estimated because of tumbled walls. |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (North west): | Uses wide natural gully. |
| 1. Simple Gap (North west): | None |
Apart from natural precipices, defences consist of massive stone wall c. 2.m to 3.5m in width and follows 230m contour round the NE end falling to 225m on E before rising to 240 at the SE end. No ditch visible. 0.47ha.
| Area 1: | 0.47ha. |
| Total: | 0.47ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | NW side uses natural cliffs. |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| 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 |
| ✗ | No ditch visible. |
Number of Ditches: 0
| ✗ | None |
RCAHMW 1964. Caernarvonshire Vol III: West, A survey and inventory by the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire, No 1742, 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