Pen y Gorddyn 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. Pen y Gorddyn comprises a sub circular enclosure of a double bank and ditch with a third bank added on the north and east where the natural slope is gentler. The innermost bank survives as a visible earthwork some 30cm high for its entire circuit save a small section on the north. On the SE, it is incorporated into a hedge bank and it is an impressive 1.5m in height. The inner ditch is visible for the most part, and the outer bank survives on all sides, save the north, as a rounded 30cm high earthwork. The outer ditch is barely apparent, and the additional bank on the N and E is only visible in aerial photographs.

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.