LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Dyfed 1719 (None)
NMR: SN 42 NE (303939)
SM: None
NGR: SN46602585
X: 246600 Y: 225850 (OSGB36)
Level terrain hillfort sited on NW edge of SW-facing spur above very steep scarp slope of narrow re-entrant. At headwaters of Nant Crychiau and Nant Penycnwc, to NW and SE respectively, flowing into Afon Tywi to S. Level to moderate slopes on NE, E and SW. D-shaped, measuring c. 185m N-S by 84m, with internal area c. 1.3ha. Level interior with outer bank on three sides, NE, E and S, with mean height of 2.4m. Scarp slope defends long NW side, RCAHM in 1917 inventory stating that bank was visible here. Traces of outer ditch to 0.3m deep at NE and SW ends; destroyed by farm track on SE. Ordnance Survey, in 1976, found traces of additional bank at N end, 0.7m high internally, with scarp 2.2m high and berm 5m wide on the outside, with SE entrance. The berm probably indicated the site of in-filled outer ditch. More than one phase of construction proposed. Under improved pasture. Minimal investigations, undated.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -471056 Y: 6783862 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -4.231570834929338 Latitude: 51.909964573806704 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Wales
Current County or Unitary Authority: Carmarthenshire
Historic County: Carmarthenshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Abergwili
Damaged, but fair banks. Outer ditch gone on SE.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Under improved pasture.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Level terrain hillfort sited on NW edge of SW-facing spur above very steep scarp slope of narrow re-entrant. At headwaters of Nant Crychiau and Nant Penycnwc, to NW and SE respectively, flowing into Afon Tywi to S. Level to moderate slopes on NE, E and SW.
| 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: Scarp edge of spur
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✓ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 255.0m
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 |
Field Observation OS 1967, 1976. Field Observation DAT 1983, 2007. Dyfed Archaeological Trust defended enclosures survey 2007-2008.
| Other (None): | Field observation OS. |
| Other (None): | Field observation DAT. |
| Other (None): | Dyfed Archaeological Trust defended enclosures survey. |
None
None
| 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 | ✗ |
Possible SE entrance.
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South east): | Type estimated. |
Level interior with outer bank on three sides, NE, E and S, with mean height of 2.4m. Scarp slope defends long NW side, RCAHM in 1917 inventory stating that bank was visible here. Traces of outer ditch to 0.3m deep at NE and SW ends; destroyed by farm track on SE. Ordnance Survey, in 1976, found traces of additional bank at N end, 0.7m high internally, with scarp 2.2m high and berm 5m wide on the outside.
| Area 1: | 1.3ha. |
| Total: | 1.3ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✓ | More than one phase of construction proposed by OS because of irregular form, but not proven. |
| ✗ | Bank suggested by RCAHM in 1917 probably correct, but not visible now. |
| NE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| NW Quadrant: | 0 |
| Total: | 2 |
| Partial Univallate | ✓ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✓ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
None
| 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 |
| ✓ | Traces of outer ditch to 0.3m deep at NE and SW ends, with possible outer ditch on the second N bank found by OS 1976. |
Number of Ditches: 2
| ✗ | None |
Murphy, F., Ramsey, R., Page, M. and Murphy, K. 2008. A Survey of Defended Enclosures in Carmarthenshire, 2007-08: Gazetteer of Ordnance Survey Grid Squares SN40, SN41, SN42, SN43 and SN44, Dyfed Archaeological Trust Report No. 2007/27, Project Record No. 62767, Llandeilo: Dyfed Archaeological Trust.
Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments and constructions in Wales and Monmouthshire 1917. An inventory of the ancient monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire, V, Carmarthen, 10, London: HMSO.
Savory, H.N. 1954. List of hill-forts and other earthworks in Carmarthenshire. Bull Board Celtic Stud, 16, 56.
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