Bryn Euryn 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.

Bryn Euryn Camp comprises the summits of two hills and the slightly lower intervening ground and commands extensive views of Snowdonia, the Clwydian hills and the coast. An approximately circular inner enclosure, some 12m in diameter is defined by a bank of limestone and earth 0.3m high, with traces of the outward facing of a wall on the north side; and a partial outer enclosure with an area of c.0.6 hectares, with defences on the north and west sides only, the south side being craggy. At the highest point is an Ordnance Survey triangulation pillar surmounting an artificially created pile of limestone. A modern viewing point is set nearby to the south west. The remains of one or two concrete building bases date to the Second World War. Within the outer enclosure are two medieval pillow mounds and a hut circle. Originally constructed in the Iron Age there is a tradition of early medieval (Dark Age) occupation.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of later prehistoric and early medieval 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.