LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Glamorgan Gwent 00745w (None)
NMR: SS 78 NE (301319)
SM: GM477
NGR: SS79968673
X: 279960 Y: 186730 (OSGB36)
Contour hillfort sited on S edge of spur of the steep hill of Graig Fawr opposite Mynydd y Castell and overlooking the coastal plain at Margam and Margam Abbey. Surrounding slopes moderate to N and very steep to S, E and W. Measures c. 53m long NW-SE by 37m wide with internal area of 0.2ha. Destroyed on the NW and SW. Single rampart best preserved on NE, where c. 9m wide and 1m from outside, but only a scarp on S. Detached length of bank on W is out of line with rest of the earthwork but probably belongs to it; similar to rampart but only 7m wide. Outer ditch only on NE where 5m wide and 0.3m deep. The rampart is overgrown by plantations on the N. No entrance defined. Old field bank and modern stone wall cross N part from E to W. Rampart overgrown by plantations on the N. Part destroyed. First on OS map 1899 (not 1st Ed.). Minimal investigations, undated.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -415594 Y: 6722134 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.733346220310873 Latitude: 51.56658284521588 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Wales
Current County or Unitary Authority: Neath Port Talbot
Historic County: Glamorgan
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Margam
Destroyed on the NW and SW. Old field bank and modern stone wall cross N part from E to W.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✓ |
Rampart overgrown by plantations on the N.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✓ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Contour hillfort sited on S edge of spur of the steep hill of Graig Fawr opposite Mynydd y Castell and overlooking the coastal plain at Margam and Margam Abbey. Surrounding slopes moderate to N and very steep to S, E and W.
| 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: 165.0m
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 |
First on OS map 1899 (not 1st Ed.). RCAHMW investigation 1966. GGAT Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan survey 2005.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1899): | OS map - not 1st Ed. |
| Other (1966): | RCAHMW investigation. |
| Other (2005): | GGAT Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan survey. |
None
Stream 0.4km 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 | ✗ |
NO APPARENT FEATURES
| APs Not Checked | ✓ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
No entrance defined.
| 0: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
Single rampart best preserved on NE, where c. 9m wide and 1m from outside, but only a scarp on S. Detached length of bank on W is out of line with rest of the earthwork but probably belongs to it; similar to rampart but only 7m wide. Outer ditch only on NE where 5m wide and 0.3m deep.
| Area 1: | 0.2ha. |
| Total: | 0.2ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SW Quadrant: | 0 |
| NW Quadrant: | 0 |
| Total: | 1 |
| 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 only on NE where 5m wide and 0.3m deep. |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✗ | 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. 625, 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