The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
Historic Environment Record
 

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Half Moon Camp, Margam

Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 00745w
Trust : Glamorgan Gwent
Community : Margam
Unitary authority : Neath Port Talbot
NGR : SS79968673
Site Type (preferred type first) : Iron Age Hillfort
Status : Scheduled Monument

Summary :
Half Moon Camp is an oval enclosure about 150m above O.D. It measures about 53m long from NW to SE by 37m wide and the area is about 0.2 ha. The rampart is best preserved on the N.E., where it is about 9m wide/ 0.3m high. It survives as a scarp on the S.

Description :
Half Moon Camp is an oval enclosure on a southward facing spur, about 150m above O.D. The enclosure measures about 53m long (destroyed on the NW and SW) from NW to SE by 37m wide and the area is about 0.2 ha. An old field bank and a modern stone wall cross the N part of the camp from E to W. The single rampart is best preserved on the north-east, where it is about 9m wide and 0.3m high (from inside; 1m from outside), and survives only as a scarp on the S. A detached length of bank on the W is out of line with the rest of the earthwork but probably belongs to it. This is similar from the rampart but only 7m wide. An outer ditch is preserved only on the NE where it is 5m wide and 0.3m deep. The rampart is overgrown by planations on the N (CADW, 1994 ; RCAHM 1976).

Half Moon Camp is an oval enclosure on the S edge of a spur overlooking Margam Abbey at a little over 150m OD. The ground falls sharply from the SW edge of the earthwork. The enclosure measures about 53m long from NW to SE by 37m wide, but has been destroyed on the NW and SW; the area is about 0.2ha. A detached length of bank on the W is somewhat out of line with the rest of the earthwork but probably belongs to it. The defences consist of a single rampart, best preserved on the NE where it is 9m wide, 0.3m high internally and nearly 1m externally. The bank on the W is similar but only 7m wide. The rampart is almost ploughed out in the adjoining field on the N and on the S survives only as a scarp; this fades out about the middle of the S side, perhaps indicating the position of the entrance. An outer ditch is preserved only on the NE where it is 5m wide and 0.3m deep. The N part of the camp is crossed from E to W by an old field bank and a modern stone wall. (Wiggins and Evans 2005)


Sources :
Marvell A G , 1993 , Port Talbot - Margam Duplicate Watermain Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment ( © GGAT)
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-
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
RGAHM, 1976, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan, I, ii, p.24 (no 625)
CADW, 1994, Scheduled Ancient Monument Record (last amended in 2006), SAM GM477

Events :
E001455 : Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan (year : 2005)
E003916 : Port Talbot - Margam Duplicate Watermain (year : 1993)
E007771 : Newland Farm, Margam, Neath Port Talbot (year : 2013)
E007984 : Ysgol Newydd (Margam), Port Talbot, Wales (year : 2016)
E006544 : Margam Country Park, Margam, Neath Port Talbot (year : 2020)

Related records
National Monuments Record NPRN 301319 http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/301319/details

Compiled date :


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