Tump Wood Camp

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The monument comprises the remains of a hillfort, which probably dates to the Iron Age period (c. 800 BC - AD 74, the Roman conquest of Wales). Tump Wood Camp hillfort comprises a bivallate defensive enclosure located on the summit of a low hill on the southern side of the River Usk. The hillfort is roughly oval in plan, 170m N/S and 130m E/W, enclosing an area of around 1.5 acres. The entrance into the hillfort is at the SE end. There are two defensive banks with a central ditch around the full circumference of the hillfort. The inner bank is roughly 2m high on the outside and 0.8m high on the inside, outside which is a ditch around 0.6m deep, and a second, outer bank around 1.2m high. At the northern end is an outer ditch, 2.5m wide, with a low bank, around 1m high, located beyond. This third bank only extends for around 50m. At the SE end of the hillfort an outlying bank runs SE/NW for around 100m. This bank is 1m high at the NW end and 2m high at the SE end and has a shallow outer ditch, around 0.7m deep.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of later prehistoric defensive organisation and settlement. The site forms an important element within the wider later prehistoric context and within the surrounding landscape. The site is well preserved and retains considerable archaeological potential. There is a strong probability of the presence of evidence relating to chronology, building techniques and functional detail.

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