Caer Drewyn is an early Iron Age hillfort to the north of the town of Corwen, Denbighshire (Grid reference SJ 08769 44411 ). It has a large stone rampart with entrances on the west and north sides; there is a guard chamber within the north-east entrance, and it has a deep defensive ditch. [1]
Caer Drewyn is the most southerly hillfort in the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is situated on the spur of a hill between Llangollen and Corwen, just above the confluence of the River Dee and the River Alwen. The earliest structure was a small enclosure built against a natural rock outcrop. Today this structure is only visible as the remains of a grass-covered bank. A later, larger fortress was surrounded by a dry-stone wall, and does not have the earthen ramparts of other local hillforts. The area of the site is about three hectares. There are two in-turned entrances, one at the highest point, with the possible remains of a guardhouse beside it, and the other on the west side adjoining the remains of a rectangular building. There is a further enclosure outside that contains stone foundations of what may have been a hut platform. [2]
Caer Drewyn is an Iron Age fort dating back to about 500 BC, however it was in use as a defensive position long after this. Legend states that Owain Gwynedd occupied it while Henry II of England was invading Gwynedd in 1165 via a southerly route, and Owain Glyndŵr is believed to have gathered his troops here in 1400 after his followers proclaimed him Prince of Wales. The Welsh antiquarian Edward Lhuyd mentioned Caer Drewyn in the late seventeenth century as "a place where they kept their cattle in war time". [2]
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roman period. The fortification usually follows the contours of a hill and consists of one or more lines of earthworks, with stockades or defensive walls, and external ditches. Hillforts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC, and were used in many Celtic areas of central and western Europe until the Roman conquest.
Denbighshire is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewydd-Llanelwy) Palaeolithic site has Neanderthal remains of some 225,000 years ago. Castles include Denbigh, Rhuddlan, Ruthin, Castell Dinas Bran and Bodelwyddan. St Asaph, one of Britain's smallest cities, has one of its smallest Anglican cathedrals.
Castell Dinas Brân is a medieval castle occupying a prominent hilltop site above the town of Llangollen in Denbighshire, Wales. The presently visible castle was probably built in the 1260s by Gruffydd Maelor II, a prince of Powys Fadog, on the site of several earlier structures, including an Iron Age hillfort.
Foel Fenlli or Moel Fenlli is a hill in Denbighshire, North Wales. With a summit at an elevation of 511 metres (1,677 ft), it is the second highest peak of the Clwydian Range.
The Clwydian Range is a series of hills in the north-east of Wales that runs from Llandegla in the south to Prestatyn in the north, the highest point being the popular Moel Famau. The range forms part of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Dinas Dinlle is a small settlement in Gwynedd, north-west Wales which is also, historically, part of Caernarfonshire.
Nordy Bank is an Iron Age hill fort on Brown Clee Hill in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in South Shropshire, England.
Croft Ambrey is an Iron Age hill fort in Herefordshire, England.
Moel y Gaer is an Iron Age hillfort at the northern end of the Clwydian Range, located on a summit overlooking the valley of the River Wheeler, near the village of Bodfari, Denbighshire, Wales, five miles north-east of Denbigh. The site is a scheduled monument, classified as a prehistoric defensive hillfort.
Moel y Gaer, also known as Moel-y-Gaer Camp or Moel y Gaer Hillfort, is an Iron Age hillfort located on a western spur of the Clwydian Range, near the village of Llanbedr, Denbighshire, Wales. The site is a scheduled monument, classified as a prehistoric defensive hillfort.
Moel y Gaer is an Iron Age hillfort on a summit of Llantysilio Mountain, northwest of the town of Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales. The site is a scheduled monument classified as a prehistoric defensive hillfort.
Caer Lêb is a Roman and mediaeval site on the Welsh island of Anglesey, west of Brynsiencyn. Its name means "Leaven Castle". It is a low-lying site near the Afon Braint with a double row of pentangular banks and marshy ditches. The original entrance was on the east, other gaps are modern and caused by animals. Based on the excavation of a similar site elsewhere on Anglesey, it may date from the 2nd century BCE.
Gaer Penrhôs, in Ceredigion, Wales, was a ringwork castle at the summit of a steep hill near the village of Llanrhystud; now all that remains are the outlines of its ringworks. Through the years it has variously been referred to as Llanrhystud Castle and Castell Cadwaladr and has likely been the site of more than one structure.
Bury Camp is the site of an Iron Age multivallate hillfort in north-west Wiltshire, England. It occupies a triangular promontory of Colerne Down, in the north of Colerne parish, at the southern edge of the Cotswold Hills between two spurs of a river valley. The enclosed area of approximately 9.2ha is surrounded by a ditch 4m wide and up to 1m deep, and an outer rampart up to 1.5m high on the east and northwestern sides and up to 2m high on the southwestern side, across the neck of the promontory.
The Dee Valley Way is a Hiking Trail that runs between Corwen and Llangollen in north Wales. The Way is 21 km long. The guide splits it into five sections that are accessible by road.
Caer Bach is a Welsh hillfort of indeterminate age, on a rounded hillock situated near the village of Rowen; in Conwy County, North Wales. Its name in English translates as 'Small Fort'; or alternatively 'Little Fortress'. It is situated on the Eastern slopes of Tal-y-Fan, an outlying peak of the Carneddau mountain range in northeast Snowdonia; at an altitude of approximately 413 metres. Little information is known about the history of the fort, as to date, the site has undergone minimal investigation. The fort is classed as a scheduled ancient monument and is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric settlement. It is said to retain significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits.
Castell Caer Seion is an Iron Age hillfort situated at the top of Conwy Mountain, in Conwy County, North Wales. It is unusual for the fact that the main fort contains a smaller, more heavily defended fort, complete with its own distinct defences and entrance, with no obvious means of access between the two. The construction date of the original fort is still unknown, but recent excavations have revealed evidence of occupation as early as the 6th century BC, whilst the smaller fort can be dated with reasonable certainty to around the 4th century BC. Whilst the forts were constructed in different periods, archaeologists have uncovered evidence of concurrent occupation, seemingly up until around the 2nd century BC. The larger fort contained around 50 roundhouses during its lifetime, whereas examinations of the smaller fort have turned up no more than six. The site was traditionally associated with Maelgwyn Gwynedd, but there is no evidence pointing to a 6th-century occupation. The fort and wider area beyond its boundaries have been said to retain significant archaeological potential, and are protected by law as a scheduled ancient monument.
Hen Gaer is an Iron Age hillfort, on a hill adjacent to and east of Bow Street, Ceredigion, Wales.
Caer Euni [Grid reference SJ 00027 41266] is an Iron Age hillfort, about 2.5 miles (4 km) north-east of the village of Llandderfel and about 5 miles (8 km) north-east of Bala Lake, in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a scheduled monument.
The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and proposed national park, located in north-east Wales, covering the Clwydian Range, and the valley of the River Dee. Designated in 1985 as the Clwydian Range AONB, and expanded to its current form in 2011, the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty includes: medieval field systems, open heather moorland, prehistoric hillforts, limestone crags, broad leaved woodland, wooded valleys, and farmland. In 2018, an estimated 1.1 million people visited six key sites across the AONB, generating approximately £24.1 million to the Welsh economy, according to Natural Resources Wales. The AONB falls within the jurisdiction of the local authorities of Denbighshire, Flintshire, and Wrexham County Borough, with the majority, 80% of the AONB in Denbighshire, and the remaining 20% split evenly between the other two authorities. The AONB is the largest of only five AONBs in Wales, and one of the 46 in the United Kingdom. Additionally, it is one of only 8 protected areas of Wales. Long-distance footpaths; Offa's Dyke Path, and the Clwydian Way pass through the AONB. The area of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB is 390 km2 (150 sq mi), and has been proposed by the Welsh Government to become Wales' fourth national park.
