The Bulwarks Camp

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient 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.

This large hillfort is trapezoidal in shape, bounded on the south by the sea cliff, on the east by a steep drop to a gully (now occupied by a railway cutting) and on the west by level ground. It is on the level west side that the main defences are found. They consist of an outer ditch and two massive closely set banks. In 1968 excavation in the interior revealed three rectangular buildings behind the innermost rampart. The earliest is undated, and the other wo date from the 1st-2nd centuries AD and teh 3rd-4th centuries AD. This hillfort would therefore seem to have continued in use well into the Roman period.

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.