The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
Historic Environment Record
 

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Buarth Y Gaer (fort)

Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 00679w
Trust : Glamorgan Gwent
Community : Briton Ferry
Unitary authority : Neath Port Talbot
NGR : SS76559360
Site Type (preferred type first) : Iron Age Hillfort
Status : Scheduled Monument

Summary :
Buarth y Gaer is a simple oval contour fort, 135m by 107m (0.1ha). The enclosure consists of a single bank with external ditch, best preserved on the E. and N.E. Entrance is 12m wide, and located at the W end. The structure is partly destroyed on the S.

Description :
Buarth y Gaer is located about 4 km south of Neath and 3km eastwards from Briton Ferry, on the summit of Mynydd y Gaer Fawr, at 300m above OD. 700m to the north, is the Mynydd y Gaer Camp (prn 00651w). It is a simple oval contour fort on the summit of Mynydd y Gaer, measuring 135m long by 107m wide, enclosing an area of 1.1ha. The enclosure consists of a single bank and external ditch, with an overall width about 10m. The defences are best preserved on the E. and N.E. The bank is about 0.7m high internally and 2m externally (from the bottom of the ditch). The entrance is 12m wide, and located at the W end. Some narrow gaps on the north of the bank appear to be modern. The structure has been partly destroyed on the S. by modern quarrying. Another element is a cairn (prn 00648w), situated on the highest point of the hill, inside the enclosure, though presumably earlier than the hill-fort (RCAHM 1976).

BUARTH Y GAER is a simple contour fort at 300m above OD on the summit of Mynydd y Gear, 3km E of Briton Ferry. It is oval in plan and measures 135m long from E to W by 107m wide enclosing 1.1ha, defended by a single bank with external ditch, of average overall width about 10m. The defences are best preserved on the E and NE where the bank is about 0.7m high internally, and nearly 2m externally above the bottom of the ditch. At the W end is a simple entrance 12m wide. Narrow gaps in the bank on the N appear to be modern. The defences have been partly destroyed on the S by modern quarrying.
Within the enclosure, on the highest point of the hill, is a cairn (RCAHMW 1976b 629) (PRN 00679w), presumably earlier than the hill-fort. (Wiggins and Evans 2005)

Sources :
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-
Smith E.G. , 1931/32 , Report on ancient Monuments (in Borough of Neath)
ST. Joseph J.K.S. , 1961 , Aerial Reconnaissance in Wales , Antiquity : 35 : 263-275
Wiggins, H and Evans, E , 2005 , Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan with recommendations for fieldwork
01/Desc Text/Cadw/ Full Management Report/2006/ Copy in further information file
RCAHMW, 1976, An Inventory of The Ancient Monuments In Glamorgan, I, ii, p26 (num.629), fig. 8

Events :
E001455 : Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan (year : 2005)

Related records
GGAT Historic Environment Record (HER) 00648w, 00249w
National Monuments Record NPRN 301301 http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/301301/details

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