The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust
Historic Environment Record
 

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Mynydd y Castell Hillfort, Margam

Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 00756w
Trust : Glamorgan Gwent
Community : Margam
Unitary authority : Neath Port Talbot
NGR : SS80618655
Site Type (preferred type first) : Iron Age Hillfort
Status : Scheduled Monument

Summary :
Iron Age Hillfort, single rampart, enclosed area 2.7ha, roughly D shaped.

Description :
Iron Age Hillfort, single rampart, enclosed area 2.7ha, roughly D shaped. At Mynydd y Castell in Margam Park, an isolated hill has been fortified by a single rampart enclosing a D-shaped area (with a straight E side) of 2.7ha. The SE apex is at 120m OD falling evenly to 90m OD on the N side. Outside the ground falls away steeply.

The defences consisted of a massive bank or scarp accompanied by a ditch with a counterscarp bank. There is no indication of a revetment. There is some evidence that the enclosure was originally intended to smaller than the existing fort and it is possible that this earlier layout was abandoned before completion.
One entrance is on the SW where a ramp 4 to 5.5m wide cuts through the outer scarp from the S and enters a natural hollow between the slightly inturned ends of the inner scarp. At the NE angle of the hill-fort modern quarrying has confused the layout of the defences, but it seems likely that an original entrance existed here also.

The modern track on to the hill approaches from the SE and bends sharply southward as it enters the interior. The S side of the turn is commanded buy a high scarp that appear to be a continuation of the inner rampart of the fort, and there is even a suggestion of a guard-chamber in the extreme angle of the defences n the N side of the track, but it is not clear if these features are preserved from an original layout or are due to modern disturbance. The interior does not seem to have been ploughed, but there is no traces of habitation, a round levelled area at the S end resembles a hut-platform, but in view of the absence of platforms from the rest of the site it may well be modern. (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-
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

Events :
E001455 : Prehistoric defended enclosures in Glamorgan (year : 2005)
E006593 : Margam Country Park: Better Woodlands For Wales WHE2 (year : 2009)
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 301336 http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/301336/details

Compiled date :


March 28, 2025, 1:37 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
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