Porth Dafarch Hut Circles

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.

A settlement lying close to the sea at the head of a small bay. It has been much disturbed in the past by both excavation and road widening. The remains at present consist of: a round hut 5.1 m in diameter with walls 1 m thick and 0.7 m high, built of smallish stone and with an entrance on the NE; two rectangular huts N of the round hut, of which the better defined (S) is 3 m x 2.9 m with walls 0.7 m high, and the other lies 0.7 m higher; another poorly defined rectangular hut to the SW of the round hut with an entrance passage 1 m wide; and the remains of a second round hut, most of which lies under the road, to the S.

Archaeological Item # AN034C
Excavations by W O Stanley in 1875 revealed evidence for four burials of probable Early Christian date. One long cist grave had been dug into Barrow III, and another long cist grave with two dug graves were located in Barrow II.

Archaeological Item # AN034B
The settlement is described in the main visit text.

Archaeological Item # AN034A
The remains of three barrows partly underlie the hut settlement. The finding of the first barrow was described by W O Stanley in 1849, and he later excavated the other two.

The three barrows were in a line running back from the shore. Barrows I and II have been completely destroyed; Barrow I was removed in Stanley's time and the remains of Barrow II were destroyed when the road was improved in 1939. Some evidence may remain for Barrow III, which lay close to the surviving round hut. Barrow II covered a Beaker burial and may also have contained a later urn burial; Barrow I contained two urn burials, but may also have originated in Beaker times; Barrow III contained some evidence for urn burials.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric settlement and burial. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. The structures themselves may be expected to contain archaeological information concerning chronology and building techniques.

The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.