Dinas Dinorwic Camp

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled 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 a single or multiple earthworks 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.

Dinas Dinorwig hillfort is located on one summit of a ridge. To the north-west the ground falls away steeply to a small tributary of the River Seiont and to the south-east less steeply to the marshy valley in which the River Cegin rises. The hillfort comprises an inner wall surrounded by two massive ramparts of earth and rubble. Of two entrances through the wall the larger is obstructed by the inner rampart, indicating that the ramparts are of a later phase than the wall. The outer rampart has an exterior ditch c.4m wide around most of the circuit. On the north side there is a wedge shaped annexe between the outer rampart and the steep slope of the hill. Within the defences, on the west side, a single hut is visible as a depression.

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.