Maes y Gaer Camp (Hillfort)

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.

Maes y Gaer Camp is a hillfort with a single stone rampart enclosing 0.06 hectares. It is pear-shaped in plan with the narrow end pointing towards the SW. At its maximum it is 122m long and 67m wide. On the S and E sides the rampart is mostly a mass of loose rubble, but some facing stones remain, suggesting an original width of 2.4m. Along the N and W sides the rampart follows a terrace, and the stone is covered with herbaceous vegetation to form a grass bank. The entrance is in the SE corner and is just over 3m wide. Two facing stones on either side of the entrance remain.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric settlement and defence. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. The structures themselves may be expected to contain archaeological information concerning chronology and building techniques.

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