Cefn Llan Hillfort

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 Iocated 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. Cefn Llan is a quadrilateral enclosure on a hill top, comprising two banks and ditches in varying degrees of preservation. The interior is varied so that the internal bank is merely a scarping in the slope, while the ditch is well preserved and 1.5m deep. The outer bank is used as a hedge bank on the north, north west and east, and is 2m high at its most impressive on the north, but is less apparent on the south. The position of the outer ditch is visible as a break in the slope on the west, but elsewhere is barely apparent. The entrance is probably on the south east, but there is a break for vehicular access on the north east corner.

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.