Moel y Gaer hillfort is surrounded by steep slopes to the north, west, and south. To the east the approach is almost level and is where the main entrance is sited.[3] There is also a non-functional entrance to the west.[3] Most of the fort is surrounded by a double bank and ditch, with additional banks to the northeast, near the entrance, across the ridge connecting the hill to the higher ground leading to Moel Famau.[4]
The hillfort is approximately oval, measuring about 200 metres (660ft) north-south by 180 metres (590ft) west-east.[5] The main enclosure is a rounded triangle with an area of 2.63 hectares (6.5 acres), with an annex to the north of 0.26 hectares (0.64 acres), giving a total area of 2.89 hectares (7.1 acres).[2]
At a height of 320 metres (1,050ft) up to 345 metres (1,132ft) Moel y Gaer is much lower than the other hillforts in the chain and is also unusual in that it is not sited on the ridge of the range.[3] However, it is in a commanding position over the Vale of Clwyd.[5]
The site has suffered from some agricultural damage in the 1980s and also some damage from sheep and rabbit warrens.[2]
Excavations and surveys
The hillfort was investigated in 1849 by W. Wynne-Ffoulkes.[6] He dug a number of small trenches and concluded that the eastern entrance had been paved and that the inner rampart was built of stone or fronted with stone. He also found an area with large amounts of highly burnt stone.[7] Various artefacts discovered at the site have since been lost.[7]
More recently, in 2007, a topographic survey was carried out for the Heather and Hillforts Project. The survey identified 15 roundhouse platforms within the enclosure, along with possible evidence that the inner rampart was faced with stone at some time during the site's occupation. The survey also found evidence of a major period of burning, with fragments of burnt stone in several places and also a block of vitrified material.[8]
In 2008 a geophysical survey was carried out as part of an "Archaeology Uncovered" event, with members of the public carrying out the field work. The work included magnetic susceptibility, fluxgate gradiometer, and resistivity surveys.[9] The surveys identified a number of possible features, including a potentially paved path and a number of potential lines of stone walls.[10]
In 2009 a team from Bangor University, in collaboration with the Heather and Hillforts Project, excavated two trenches at the site. The excavations also acted as a field school for students from Bangor and from the University of Vienna, Austria, and as a community archaeology project.[10]
The study tentatively suggests that Moel y Gaer hillfort had at least two phases of occupation, an Early Iron Age phase, when the inner rampart was built, and possibly a second (Middle or Late Iron Age) phase, when the outer ramparts were built.[11]
Conservation
The hillfort seen from the path to Moel Famau from Bwlch Pen Barras
As well as being a scheduled monument, the hillfort is also protected and managed as part of the Heather and Hillforts Project. The project includes six hillforts: the four most southerly of the hillforts in the Clwydian Range (Penycloddiau, Moel Arthur, Moel y Gaer Llanbedr, and Moel Fenlli) and also Moel y Gaer Llantysilio and Caer Drewyn.[12]
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 north east Wales that runs from Llandegla in the south to Prestatyn in the north, with the highest point being the popular Moel Famau. The range forms part of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Penycloddiau is a hill in Flintshire, Wales, and one of five Marilyns in the Clwydian Range.
The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust(CPAT) is an educational charity which was established in 1975. Its objective is ‘to advance the education of the public in archaeology’. CPAT is one of four Welsh Archaeological Trusts (WATs) which work to help protect, record and interpret all aspects of the historic environment. This includes providing advice to local authorities on archaeology and planning, undertaking archaeological projects for private- and public-sector clients, and delivering a programme of community archaeology events and activities.
Moel y Gaer is an Iron Age hillfort located on a summit at the southern end of Halkyn Mountain, overlooking the village of Rhosesmor, Flintshire, Wales. It is a well-preserved hillfort overlooking the Dee Estuary. Excavations in the early 1970s revealed a sequence of defensive structures made of timber and several phases of building work inside the ramparts.
Moel y Gaer may refer to any of several prehistoric hillforts in Wales:
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 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.
Burfa Castle is an Iron Age hillfort near the tiny town of Old Radnor, Radnorshire in Powys, Wales. The site is a scheduled monument described as a prehistoric defensive hillfort, and was included in an inventory of monuments by 1913. The site is near Offa's Dyke which passes near the bottom of Burfa Bank.
Llwynda-Ddu Camp, also known as Llwynda-Ddu Hillfort, is a small Iron Age earthwork in Pentyrch, Cardiff in South Wales. The site is a scheduled monument, described as a prehistoric, defensive hillfort.
Bedd-y-Cawr Hillfort, or Bedd y Cawr Hillfort, is an iron age hillfort on a natural inland promontory in the community of Cefnmeiriadog in Denbighshire in North Wales. The name of the hillfort translates from the Welsh as Giant's Tomb.
Bedd-y-Cawr Hillfort, or Bedd y Cawr Hillfort, is an iron age hillfort on a natural inland promontory in the community of Cefnmeiriadog in Denbighshire in North Wales. The name of the hillfort translates from the Welsh as Giant's Tomb.
Moel Arthur is an Iron Age hillfort in Flintshire, Wales, at the boundary with Denbighshire, about 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Denbigh.
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