Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Dyfed 2939 (None)
NMR: SM 70 NE 1 (305362)
SM: PE194(PEM)
NGR: SM 7687 0794
X: 176870 Y: 207940 (OSGB36)
Multivallate coastal level terrain fort located on plateau cliff edge of eroded SW-facing headland opposite to Gateholm Island and Watery and Victoria Bays. Sea cliffs to SE and SW. Level on plateau on N. Two-phased, but unclear, construction. Three, or possibly four, non-continuous, outer banks with outer ditch, and an inner bank and ditch, define the fort. Inner bank curved, running for c. 85m, standing 5m above external ditch, ending at cliff edge at each end. SE entrance, with continuing bank protection to 0.7m high along the cliff edge to the S. Outer ramparts more complex, but less high and rising to c. 3m above the ditch, with two main lines of bank and ditch, with hint of third in between. These diverge towards the W, indicating another phase perhaps. Probably stone walls. Small stream to E of entrance, and on its E side large bank, c. 30m long and 2m high, with traces of a mostly in-filled ditch provides additional protection for the entrance. The low banks on each of the E and W cliff edges seem to indicate that the SW and S parts of the interior have been lost to the sea, hence small size at 0.24ha. Pembrokeshire Coast Path crosses defences on W side. Under coastal grassland with some scrub. On 1st Ed. OS map (1875). Undated.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -582457 Y: 6750666 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -5.232302065427656 Latitude: 51.72562497300313 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Wales
Current County or Unitary Authority: Pembrokeshire
Historic County: Pembrokeshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Marloes and St Brides
Possible SW and S of interior lost to sea, hence small size. Pembrokeshire Coast Path crosses defences on W side.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✓ |
Coastal grassland and bare rock.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✗ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✓ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✓ |
| Other | ✗ |
Multivallate coastal level terrain fort located on eroded SW-facing headland opposite to Gateholm Island. Opposite Watery and Victoria Bays. Sea cliffs to SE and SW. Moderate to level on N.
| 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 cliff edge.
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 50.0m
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 (1875). Field Observation OS 1973. Field Observation AMB 1981. Field Observation DAT 1994, 1996. Field observation CADW 2003. Cambria Archaeology defended enclosures survey 2006-2007. RCAHMW field visit 2009. LiDAR and topographic survey (Page et al 2008).
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1875): | OS map. |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1875): | OS map. |
| Other (1973): | Field Observation OS. |
| Other (1981): | Field Observation AMB. |
| LiDAR Survey (2008): | None |
| Other (2009): | RCAHMW field visit. |
| Other (None): | Field Observation DAT. |
| Other (None): | Cambria Archaeology defended enclosures survey. |
None
Small stream immediately to SE possibly within fort defences.
| 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 | ✗ |
SE simple gap entrance with bank protection to the S.
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South east): | Bank protection |
Three, or possibly four, non-continuous, outer banks with outer ditch, and an inner bank and ditch define the fort. Inner bank curved, running for c. 85m, standing 5m above external ditch, ending at cliff edge at each end. SE entrance, with continuing bank protection to 0.7m high along the cliff edge to the S. Outer ramparts more complex, but less high and rising to c. 3m above the ditch, with two main lines of bank and ditch, with hint of third in between. These diverge towards the W, indicating another phase perhaps. Probably stone walls. Small stream to E of entrance, and on its E side large bank, c. 30m long and o 2m high, with traces of a mostly in-filled ditch on E side provides additional protection for the entrance.
| Area 1: | 0.23ha. |
| Total: | 0.23ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✓ | Two-phased, but unclear, construction as inner rampart sufficiently distinct from outer ramparts to indicate separate phase and outer banks diverge to W, indicating perhaps another phase. |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 4 |
| SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SW Quadrant: | 0 |
| NW Quadrant: | 4 |
| Total: | 4 |
| 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 | ✗ |
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: 3
| ✗ | None |
Crossley, D.W. 1963. List of Hill-Forts and other earthworks in Pembrokeshire, Bull Board Celtic Stud, 20, 174.
Murphy, K., Ramsey, R., Poucher, P. and Page, M. 2007. A Survey of Defended Enclosures in Pembrokeshire, 2006-2007: Gazetteer of Ordnance Survey Grid Squares SM70 and SM80, 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 coastal 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. 656.
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