Clegyr-Boia Camp

Summary description and reason for designation

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

The monument comprises the remains of an earthwork/stone-built enclosure where occupation has been confirmed in the Neolithic and Iron Age Periods. It is located upon the summit of a rocky outcrop that rises 10m-20m above the surrounding plateau of the St David's Peninsula. Within the slightly dished outcrop interior a roughly rectangular are of approximately 85m SW-NE and 22m SE-NW is enclosed by a rampart of stone rubble and earth revetted with stone blocks. The rampart measures up to c. 0.6m high above the interior and between 2.7m and 4.6m in width. Excavations in the first half of the twentieth century recovered Neolithic round-bottomed pottery from a series of circular and rectangular hut structures within and beneath the rampart whilst calibrated radiocarbon dates of 760-380 BC and 350BC-AD400 were obtained from charcoal associated with a pair of flanking walls and opposed elliptical embrasures forming a south west entrance. The name Clegyr Boia also associates this outcrop with the stronghold of a sixth-century AD Irish pirate named Boia suggesting post-Roman occupation may also have occurred.

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