Moel_y_Gaer,_Llantysilio

Moel y Gaer, Llantysilio

Moel y Gaer, Llantysilio

Hillfort in Denbighshire, Wales

For other places with the same name, see Moel y Gaer.

Moel y Gaer (Welsh for "bald hill of the fortress") is an Iron Age hillfort on a summit of Llantysilio Mountain, northwest of the town of Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales. The site is a scheduled monument classified as a prehistoric defensive hillfort.[1]

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The hillfort is also protected and managed as part of the Heather and Hillforts Project. The project includes six hillforts: the four most southerly of the hillforts in the Clwydian Range (Penycloddiau, Moel Arthur, Moel y Gaer Llanbedr, and Moel Fenlli), this hillfort and Caer Drewyn.[2]

Description

The defensive works at Moel y Gaer comprise a roughly oval area measuring about 140 metres (460 ft) east-west by 100 metres (330 ft), enclosing approximately 0.95 hectares (2.3 acres), and consist of a single rampart and a discontinuous ditch, with a single entrance on the eastern side.[3][4][5] The stone bank is up to 3.1 metres (10 ft) high externally and 0.6 metres (2.0 ft) internally, and the ditch to the north is 10 metres (33 ft) wide. The summit reaches 503.5 metres (1,652 ft) above sea level.[6] A track crossing the site from east to west, used by pedestrians and drivers of off-road vehicles, presents a threat to the archaeological remains.[7]

Excavations and surveys

As part of the Heather and Hillforts Project a topographic survey was commissioned, which took place between December 2006 and January 2007. The survey recorded the remains of 11 roundhouse platforms within the enclosure, concentrated on the eastern side.[7] A geophysical survey followed in 2009, which identified more possible roundhouses, along with possible internal tracks and two potential rectangular structures.[8]

In 2010 an archaeological excavation identified two roundhouses of about 7 metres (23 ft) diameter from different periods of occupation, and the results showed preservation of significant archaeological deposits in the interior of the hillfort, but also the fragile nature of the resource.[9]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Moel y Gaer, Cefn. National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW) (Report). Cadw. Cadw Id: DE126.
  2. [2]
    "Submission to the UK Landscape Award 2010: Discovering Great Places" (PDF). Heather and Hillforts Partnership Board. August 2010. p. 3. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  3. [3]
    Driver, T. (17 May 2010) [2008]. "Moel-y-Gaer, Hillfort, Llantysilio". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 306813. Retrieved 25 April 2016 – via coflein (online database of the NMRW). {{cite web}}: External link in |via= (help)
  4. [4]
    Brooks, I.P.; Laws, K. (January 2007). Heather and Hillforts Survey Report: Moel y Gaer, Lantysilio (PDF) (Report). Engineering Archaeological Services. p. 2. EAS Survey Report 2007/01. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  5. [5]
    "Moel y Gaer Llantysilio". Heather and Hillforts: The Clwydian Hillforts Condition Survey. Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT). Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  6. [6]
    "Moel y Gaer". Hill Bagging. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  7. [7]
    Brooks & Laws 2007, p. 3.
  8. [8]
    Grant, I. (November 2010). "Moel y Gaer Hillfort, Llantysilio, Denbighshire: Archaeological Excavation" (PDF). Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT). p. 3. CPAT Report No 1059. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  9. [9]
    Grant 2010, p. 2.
  10. ↑
    "Moel y Gaer Llantysilio Hillfort". Historic Environment Record (HER). Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust (GGAT). PRN 101366. Retrieved 25 April 2016 – via archwilio (online database of the four Welsh Archaeological Trusts). {{cite web}}: External link in |via= (help)
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