Gaer Coed Parc Hillfort and Enclosure

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.
The monument comprises two elements; a defended enclosure or hillfort and a large double ditched enclosure, with a possible “banjo” entrance. Both of these probably date to the Iron Age period (c. 800 BC - AD 74, the Roman conquest of Wales). They are located on a hill top overlooking the Tyfi valley to the south.
Hillforts or defended enclosures are found throughout the British Isles and are often Iocated on hilltops and surrounded by single or multiple earthworks comprising of ramparts and ditches. They sometimes contain internal features such as the remains of huts. Some were permanently occupied whilst others seem to have served as seasonal settlements or refuges in times of strife for people and livestock. Whilst they can have a clearly defensive function it is thought they also were symbols of power within the landscape, displaying the status of their builders.

The SW enclosure includes substantial earthwork remains of a single complete circuit of rampart and ditch encompassing a roughly oval area with internal dimensions, c.120m east-west by 50m. The rampart survives best on the eastern side where the bank rises to c. 2m as measured from the bottom of the ditch, which is approx. 5m wide. It is located to take advantage of a naturally defensive position which provides a steep scarp to the south of the enclosure and outcrops of rock on the eastern side which have been incorporated into the defences.
The earthworks of NE enclosure have been levelled by ploughing over time and now only survive as faint rises in the ground. The ditch outlines are however clearly visible on aerial photographs. These show two circuits of ditches c.10m apart with an entrance on the NE side. The entrance is marked by a pair of parallel ditches extending NE so the whole site roughly resembles the shape of a banjo, hence the name. This enclosure measures c. 150m east-west by c. 130m north-south.
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. Its importance is increased by the close proximity of two enclosures as it is likely that they were in contemporary use or occupation for at least part of their lifetime.
The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.