Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Dyfed 539 (None)
NMR: SR 89 NE (94226)
SM: PE316(PEM)
NGR: SR 8886 9568
X: 188860 Y: 195680 (OSGB36)
Fine coastal promontory fort located on SSE-facing limestone coastal headland of Linney Head to E of Hobbyhorse Bay and dominating the SW coastline. Precipitous sea cliffs to E, S and W, moderate landward to N. Very exposed position. Internal area 1.09ha. Two phased construction. First phase had faint traces of bank and ditch defending a sub-promontory c. 65m by 40m within the main fort circuit. Second phase had series of banks and ditch cutting off neck of the promontory on the N and running for c. 135m, with interior c. 146m by 85m. Entrance midway along bank with two lines of widely-spaced bank and ditch to W of entrance, the outer line incurving to entrance. Possible bastion mound outside E side of entrance, with short curving length of ditch and bank outside. To E of entrance only single rampart and ditch. Part excavation by Laws and Lampton 1880. Severe coastal erosion revealing section of banks and ditches, including a buried soil beneath a bank. Coastal grassland and rock outcrop. Within MOD Firing Range Danger Area. On 1st Ed. OS map (1865). Undated.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -562336 Y: 6731740 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -5.051549458165333 Latitude: 51.620191810232654 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Wales
Current County or Unitary Authority: Pembrokeshire
Historic County: Pembrokeshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Castlemartin
Severe coastal erosion revealing section of banks and ditches, including a buried soil beneath a bank. Quarrying at W end at some time. Since WWII fort within MOD Firing Range Danger Area with notices for access times and pockmarked with shell holes.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Coastal grassland and rock outcrops. Quarrying and shell holes.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✗ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✓ |
| Other | ✓ |
Fine coastal promontory fort located on SSE-facing limestone coastal headland of Linney Head to E of Hobbyhorse Bay and dominating the SW coastline. Precipitous sea cliffs to E, S and W, moderate landward to N. Very exposed position.
| 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: Coastal headland
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✓ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 30.0m
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 (1865). Part excavation by Laws and Lampton 1880. Field Observation OS 1965. Field Observation DAT 1993, 1997. Field Observation CADW 1999, 2004. Cambria Archaeology defended enclosures survey 2006-2007. LiDAR and topographic survey (Page et al 2008).
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1865): | OS map. |
| Excavation (1880): | Laws and Lampton. No details. |
| Other (1965): | Field observation OS. |
| LiDAR Survey (2008): | None |
| Other (None): | Field observation DAT. |
| Other (None): | Field observation CADW. |
| Other (None): | Cambria Archaeology defended enclosures survey. |
None
Spring 0.3 km 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 | ✗ |
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 | ✗ |
Entrance midway along bank with two lines of widely-spaced bank and ditch to W of entrance, the outer line incurving to entrance. Possible bastion mound outside E side of the entrance, with short curving length of ditch and bank outside it. To E of entrance only single rampart and ditch.
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. In-turned (North): | None |
| 1. Outworks (North): | Possible bastion mound outside E side of the entrance, with short curving length of ditch and bank outside it. |
Faint traces of bank and ditch defending a sub-promontory c. 65m by 40m within the main fort circuit. Second phase had series of banks and ditch cutting off the neck of the promontory on the N and running for c. 135m, and with interior c. 146m by 85m. Bivallate W of entrance; univallate E of entrance.
| Area 1: | 1.09ha. |
| Total: | 1.09ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✓ | Two phased construction, but no details. |
| ✗ | Two banks W of entrance. One bank E of entrance. |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| 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 | ✗ |
Probable stone-walled site.
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✗ |
| Stone Wall | ✓ |
| Rubble | ✗ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
No details.
| 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 |
| ✓ | Bivallate with ditches W of entrance; univallate wiyth ditch E of entrance. |
Number of Ditches: 2
| ✗ | None |
Crossley, D.W. 1963. List of Hill-Forts and other earthworks in Pembrokeshire, Bull Board Celtic Stud, 20, 178.
Murphy, K., Ramsey, R., Poucher, P. and Page, M. 2007. A SURVEY OF DEFENDED ENCLOSURES IN PEMBROKESHIRE,
2006-07: GAZETTEER OF ORDNANCE SURVEY GRID SQUARES SR89, SR99, SS09 AND SS19, Cambria Archaeology Report No. 2007/01, Project Record No. 54269, Llandeilo: Cambria Archaeology.
Page, M., Barker, L., Driver, T. and Murphy, K. 2008. Remote sensing and the Iron Age promontory forts of Pembrokeshire. Archaeol Wales, 48, 27-38.
RCAMWM 1925. An inventory of the ancient monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire, VII, County of Pembroke, London: HMSO, No. 142.
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