Platform Houses on Coly Uchaf

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The monument consists of the remains of two platform houses probably dating to the medieval period. A platform house is a levelled area of ground on which a house is built. The houses are set out in a north-south orientation in a field below the top of the Gelligaer Common plateau. The northernmost one is grass covered and measures 16 x 12m with a 2m high bank terraced into the hillside on its eastern side. It has a flat interior and no banks or walls. The second platform, to the south, is also grass covered and measures 21m x 10m with a bank at the back of 2m. At the western end is a turf covered wall 3m wide by 5m long, with stones showing on the surface. Outside this (to the west) is a steep-sided ditch, c. 1.5m deep on the south-west corner, which runs across the western side of the platform and continues less deep (c. 0.3m) up the southern side, where it has some large stones in it. On the northern side the ditch appears to be filled with stones, covering an area outside the bank 9 x 1m. On the southern side the bank continues, 1.5m wide by 0.5m high with a 2m break, gradually petering out towards the east. To the south of the house is a rectangular walled area, turf covered, of approximately the same dimensions of the house. It has a low turf covered wall 2m wide by 0.2m high around it. There is a gap on the north-east side which could be an entrance.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of settlement organisation. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. The structure itself may be expected to contain archaeological information concerning chronology and building techniques. a platform house may be part of a larger cluster of monuments and their importance can further enhanced by their group value.

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