Cwmdu Defended Enclosure

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.

The site comprises the remains of a defended enclosure which dates to the Iron Age (c.800BC - 43AD). The enclosure lies in wet pasture, sloping gently from south to north. It consists of a roughly oval area, 45m N-S and 35m E-W, with an annex to the north which measures 13m N-S and 25m E-W. The site is defended on the west side by a bank, semi-waterlogged ditch and counterscarp bank. To the east it is bounded by a stream (the Nant Cwmdu) and to the south it is now contained by a road. North, beyond the annex, the field drops steeply away into bog and marsh grass. In landscape terms, the site is unusual in that gives the appearance of being 'stepped' out of the boggy ground. Maps and aerial photographs raise the possibility that this monument is only part of a larger site - field boundaries suggest it may be contained within a larger Iron Age enclosure of a type which is, due to its shape, commonly known as a banjo enclosure.

This site is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of Iron Age settlement, land-use and environment. Its siting within wet pasture and the partial waterlogging of the ditch is unusual, and highlights possibilities for the survival of paleo-environmental and organic remains. The 'stepped' or terraced construction is a distinctive feature which contrasts sharply with the massive stone-built hillforts of Carn Goch (CM037) which lie only 1km away. The monument's shape and possible relationship with an external banjo enclosure is rare, and the survival of stonework around the annex is testimony to good levels of structural survival overall.

The area scheduled comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is irregular in form, measuring 65m N-S and 50m E-W.