The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
Historic Environment Record
 

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Hillfort, Craig Ty Isaf, Baglan

Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 00652w
Trust : Glamorgan Gwent
Community : Baglan
Unitary authority : Neath Port Talbot
NGR : SS75659338
Site Type (preferred type first) : Iron Age Hillfort
Status : Scheduled Monument

Summary :
The fort is about 210m above OD. The centre, a roughly oval enclosure, is formed by a rubble wall, 65m by 40m (0.2ha). There is a 3m gap entrance towards the tip of the spur and another gap at the east end. There are three banks and ditches to the east.

Description :
The fort is about 210m above OD, on the SW slopes of Mynydd y Gaer. On a spur, at the north-west side of Baglan, overlooking it. The center has been protected by a rubble wall, forming a roughly oval enclosure of about 65m E to W by 40m N to S, covering a surface about 0.2ha.
There is one entrance towards the tip of the spur. It is a gap about 3m wide. There is another gap at the east end of the enclosure. The wall is much ruinous and it is difficult to defined its original dimension.
There are three banks and ditches to the east. The innermost is the ruinous wall mentioned. The middle one is 2m high, slightly curved with shallow ditches in both sides, about 10m wide. The outer bank (2m high) is straighter and also comprises a ditch 12m wide. It has a short counterscarp bank at the north end. The enclosure may have originally had two ramparts at the east end with an entrance through both were the present gaps occur. The outer rampart seems to be a later addition. There are two mining trails cut through the area (RCAHM 1976 ; CADW 1986).

At about 210m OD on the SW slopes of Mynydd y Gaer, on a narrow, steep-sided spur. The interior, which falls fairly steeply both towards the W tip of the spur and from the N to S has been protected by a rubble wall or bank, apparently following the complete circuit, to form an oval enclosure of about 65m E to W by 40m (0.2ha). The only visible entrance is towards the tip of the spur, where there is a gap about 3m wide and the ends of the rampart seem to have been thickened, but there is another gap at the E end of the enclosure. The wall is ruined and its original dimensions are uncertain. It is barely visible on the S side, but on the N, where it follows the spine of the ridge, it appears as a belt of loose rubble up to 9m wide and 2.5m high on the inner face, where it has fallen down the slope.
At the E end, the easier approach, there are three ramparts, the innermost being the wall already mentioned. This is separated from the middle bank by a space 6m wide at the S end increasing to 20 at the N where for 10m a ditch runs parallel to the wall. The middle rampart is slightly curved and consists of a bank and ditch, 10m wide and 2m high in places. There is a gap a little N of the centre. The outermost rampart is unbroken and is almost straight, comprising a bank and ditch 12m wide and 2m high in places, with a short length of counterscarp bank at the N end. What appears to be another ditch unfinished is almost certainly a mining trial-cut. There is another in the interior which is otherwise featureless.
The plan suggest that the enclosure had originally two ramparts at the E end with an entrance through both where the present gaps occur; the outermost rampart that completely cuts off access from that end was a later addition. In its final form, with no entrance from the more accessible end and with a very wide band of defences relative to the area enclosed, the fort displays resemblances to the latest development at Dinas Powys. (Wiggins and Evans 2005)


Sources :
Wiggins, H and Evans, E , 2005 , Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan with recommendations for fieldwork
Forest Enterprise Welsh Heritage Assets Project Phase III
02/Desc Text/Cadw/ Full Management Report/2006/ Copy in further information file
RCAHMW, 1976, An Inventory of The Ancient Monuments In Glamorgan, I, ii, p46-48 (num.678), fig. 24
Helen Burnham, CADW, 1986,Scheduled Welsh Historic Monuments, visit text (sam GM263, last visited in 2006)

Events :
E001455 : Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan (year : 2005)
E007045 : Swansea North Sub-Station, New Overhead Line (VE), Swansea (year : 2010-12)

Related records
National Monuments Record NPRN 301313 http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/301313/details

Compiled date :


March 29, 2025, 9:33 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).