Cribyn Clottas

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). Hillforts are usually located on hilltops and surrounded by single or multiple earthworks, often of massive proportions. Hillforts must have formed symbols of power within the landscape, while their function may have had as much to do with ostentation and display as defence. Cribyn Clottas is a roughly circular defended enclosure measuring c.130m north-east to south-west by 100m, occupying a gently rounded summit in a prominent hilltop location with wide views. The defences consist of a slight bank up to 0.8m high internally and 1.8m high externally, though there is now little trace of any external ditch. There are several modern gaps for field entrances, and parts of the circuit have been re-used as modern field boundaries, but it is not possible to identify whether any of the gaps are original entrances. On the outer side of the circuit on the north-east are traces of a number of probable quarry pits which presumably post-date the main use of the site.

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.