The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
Historic Environment Record
 

The following information has been provided under the terms and conditions of access as detailed on GGAT’s website www.ggat.org.uk.  Copyright is reserved on all data supplied by the GGAT HER Charitable Trust. All output resulting from the use of the data must acknowledge the source as follows:-
Derived from information held by the GGAT HER Charitable Trust copyright.

The data below is intended to be used for information and research only and is not for use as part of a commercial project.  If you wish to use information derived from material held by the GGAT HER Charitable Trust for publication in printed or multimedia form or to compile resources for commercial use, prior permission must be obtained in writing. For further information or to arrange a visit to the Trust please send an enquiry form http://www.ggat.org.uk/her/english/enquiry_form.html to her@ggat.org.uk.

Dunraven Promontory Fort, St.Bride's Major

Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 00329m
Trust : Glamorgan Gwent
Community : St Bride's Major
Unitary authority : Vale of Glamorgan
NGR : SS88677279
Site Type (preferred type first) : Iron Age Promontory fort
Status : UA Local List (Adopted)

Summary :
An Iron Age hillfort situated on a headland projecting west into the sea, partly destroyed by the building of a house within it.

Description :
The fort occupies a conspicuous headland at 60m OD. S of this summit hard strata have resisted erosion and form the nose Trwyn y Witch, but north of it the W side of the promontory is being worn away, and presents a vertical cliff. The area enclosed is 6.5ha, but may have been at least half as much again, originally.

The main defences follow the SW side of the cwm, the SE side damaged by the later Dunraven Castle, but were still preserved measure 43m wide and 12m high and curve round to the present cliff. The gateway was W of the eroded end of these ramparts. 25m NW of these defences the ridge is crossed by another bank, but with no accompanying ditch. At the E end this curves round sharply to the NW and becomes a single bank and ditch following the edge of the cwm and continuing to the cliff edge. Owing to erosion, the relation of this rampart to the main enclosure is not clear, but it probably protected some form of annexe outside the entrance.

Within the enclosure there area three groups of shallow hollows, or hut platforms, 5-6m diameter, the majority are probably the sites of huts contemporary with the fort, although some may be small quarries. The main enclosure also contains two groups of pillow mounds. In 1813 Iolo Morgannwg sectioned a rampart describing the upper part as formed by mass of lime and sand concrete.

An aerial photograph suggests the presence of a filled ditch. Geophysical survey carry out as part of GGAT 70 (Coastal Hillforts Project) failed to identify any intelligible features in the interior. Reference. Barker and Mercer 1999d; Sell 2000. Wiggins 2005 (GGAT78 Prehistoric Defended Enclosures database)

A geophysical Survey was carried out for Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological trust by Stratascan, as one of five hillforts under threat from erosion. The magnetic susceptibility survey identified two area of enhancement which were targeted with magnetometry and resistivity. The magnetometry located features of archaeological potential- possible hut sites and further defences (there are also traces of these in the area). Other anomalies are more likely to refer to variations in the hardness of the rock Strata underneath. The evidence of cut features do not have certain archaeological origins- trenching would be needed to determine. (Barker & Mercer, 1999/2000)

An Iron Age hillfort situated on a headland projecting west into the sea. The whole area is under grass. Along the NE side there is a low bank with a ditch inside it. Either the earliest house and/or a replacement early 19th century house built within it destroyed the eastern end of the outer ramparts.

A survey conducted by GGAT in 2000 notes that a flight of steps associated with the later period of the castle may represent the line of a section through one of the ramparts which was cut by Iolo Morgannwg in 1813. His findings represent the only evidence from excavation currently available which is directly related to the fort; an inhumation excavated from an eroding slope on Trwyn y Witch proved to be post-medieval in date (Sell 2000). Included on Vale of Glamorgan Council's List of County Treasures (Vale of Glamorgan Council).

Sources :
Barker, P & Mercer, E , 2000 , A report for Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust on a Geophysical Survey carried out at Dunraven Castle
Ordnance Survey , 1st Edition OS map 6"
Savory H.N. & Nash-Williams V.E. , 1949 , List of Hill-Forts and other Earthworks , The Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies : XIII pt.3 : 157-
Sell, S. H. , 2000 , Glamorgan coastal hillforts: erosion monitoring and assessment ( © GGAT)
Smith E.G. , 1936 , Summer Excursion - Dunraven Castle & Bridgend
Wiggins, H and Evans, E , 2005 , Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan with recommendations for fieldwork
02/MM Record Card/OS/1968/SS 87 SE 3
01/PM List/RCHM/1976/Glam Invent/No.666
05/PM Desc Text///1978/Archaeology in Wales/;
08/MM Photo///GGAT/Lewis W/1979-80
04/PM Desc Text//Savory H.N/1949/Bull Board Celtic Stud V.13 Pt.3;
07/MM Record Card/OS//1976/SS 87 SE 3/;
06/MM Air Photo/Westair///1979/Bu 1765;
p.151;
03/PM Desc Text///1949/Bull Board Celtic Stud/;
010/Desc Text/Cadw/ Full Management Report/2007/ Copy in further information file

Events :
E000727 : Dunraven (year : 1813)
E001455 : Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan (year : 2005)
E002593 : Dunraven Castle (Hillfort) (year : 1999/2000)
E002997 : Glamorgan Coastal Hillforts (year : 2000)
E006100 : GGAT150: Rapid Coastline Zone Assessment (year : 2016-17)

Related records
GGAT Historic Environment Record (HER) 330m
GGAT Historic Environment Record (HER) 4365m
National Monuments Record NPRN 300161 http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/300161/details

Compiled date : 01-02-1977


March 28, 2025, 9:12 pm - HTML file produced from GGAT HER Charitable Trust Ltd. Heathfield House, Heathfield, Swansea SA1 Tel. 01792 655208; Fax 01792 474469 website: www.ggat.org.uk  email: her@ggat.org.uk Registered Charity no. 505609
Data supplied by in partnership with Local Authorities, Cadw and the partners of ENDEX © GGAT HER Charitable Trust, 2025 (and in part © Crown, 2025).