LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Glamorgan Gwent 00713m (None)
NMR: ST 18 SW (94599)
SM: GM180
NGR: ST10858100
X: 310850 Y: 181000 (OSGB36)
Multivallate contour fort located at W end of a prominent spur above the River Taff S of Pen-tyrch. Surrounding slopes moderate to strong on all sides. Ramparts damaged and part destroyed, inhibiting interpretation, but appear to have been two ramparts and ditches, enclosing an egg-shaped interior of c. 85m NE-SW by 60m of c. 0.4ha. Outer ditch gone around nearly all the circuit. An outer bank along most of the S side, and an inner bank around the N. Where best preserved, each bank stands c. 2.5m high above bottom of the ditch, and just S of a SW entrance defences measure c. 27m wide overall. Slightly inturned entrance at narrower SW end of site, straight in form across a causeway, which interrupts outer ditch and between banks c. 7.5m apart joining the ends of inner and outer ramparts. The interior has been cultivated, now pasture interior, trees surround banks. On 1st Ed. OS map (1878). Minimal investigations, undated.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -365835 Y: 6713941 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.286354438859032 Latitude: 51.520809791879316 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Wales
Current County or Unitary Authority: Cardiff
Historic County: Glamorgan
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Pentyrch
Damaged and part-destroyed. Interior cultivated in past.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✓ |
Pasture interior, trees surround banks.
| Woodland | ✓ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Multivallate contour fort located at W end of a prominent sour above the River Taff S of Pen-tyrch. Surrounding slopes moderate to strong on all sides.
| 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: Hill top
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 120.0m
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 (1878). RCAHMW investigation 1964. GGAT Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan survey 2005.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1878): | OS map. |
| Other (1964): | RCAHMW investigation |
| Other (2005): | GGAT Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan survey. |
None
Stream 0.25km 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 | ✗ |
Slightly inturned entrance at narrower SW end of site, straight in form across a causeway, which interrupts outer ditch and between banks c. 7.5m apart joining the ends of inner and outer ramparts.
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. In-turned (South west): | Causewayed. |
Appear to have been two ramparts and ditches, enclosing an egg-shaped interior of c. 85m NE-SW by 60m of c. 0.4ha. Outer ditch gone around nearly all the circuit. An outer bank along most of the S side, and an inner bank around the N. Where best preserved, each bank stands c. 2.5m high above bottom of the ditch, and just S of a SW entrance defences measure c. 27m wide overall.
| Area 1: | 0.4ha. |
| Total: | 0.4ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | Quadrants estimated before destruction. |
| NE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SW Quadrant: | 2 |
| NW Quadrant: | 2 |
| 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 |
| ✓ | Outer ditch gone around nearly all the circuit. |
Number of Ditches: 2
| ✗ | None |
Gerrard, C., Wiggins, H., and Evans, E. 2006. Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan with recommendations for fieldwork: Year 3 Report, GGAT Report No. 2006/089, Project No. GGAT78, Swansea: GGAT.
RCAHMW 1976, No 684.RCAHMW 1976. An inventory of the ancient monuments in Glamorgan, Vol I: Pre-Norman, Part II The Iron Age and the Roman occupation, No. 684, Cardiff: HMSO.
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