CPAT Regional Historic Environment Record
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Moel Hiraddug hillfort

Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 102056
Trust : Clwyd Powys
Community : Dyserth
Unitary authority : Denbighshire
NGR : SJ06327845
Site Type (preferred type first) : MULTIPERIOD SITE
Status : scheduled monument

Summary :
Hillfort. Roughly oval enclosure of 10 hectares on a prominent limestone hill. Defences multivallate particularly on weak eastern side.

Description :
Hillfort. Roughly oval enclosure of 10 hectares on a prominent limestone hill. Defences multivallate particularly on weak eastern side.

Over 0.5 mile long N-S and 80-170 yards wide. Main defences are on the E side and consist of three (with a fourth on the S side) ramparts, all on the slope of the hill. Main route into fort was from the SE. Traces of circular huts, mostly approx 10 yards in diameter. Fragments of a La Tene shield were discovered in 1872 during road construction. (CCC, 1982)

Approximately one third destroyed by quarrying (see PRN 19200: Silvester, R J & Brassil, K S 1991, 7). The northern part of the hillfort was descheduled in 1994 (Cadw 1994).

Excavation by CPAT of small area within hillfort. No archaeological features, but stone maul recovered (Thomas, D 1992c; 1993i). (PRN 34958)

Watching brief 1993 failed to reveal any archaeological features (Thomas, D 1993f) (PRN 34959).

In 2011 a member of the public loaned prints and negatives of the excavations undertaken between 1960-1967 and 1969-1972 that they had found in a junk shop to CPAT where they were scanned and catalogued by a volunteer. The originals were deposited with Flintshire Record Office, under reference number D/DM/803-4 additional, in 2012 (CPAT, 2012).

Sources :
Bevan-Evans, M , 1963 , title unknown - Moel Hiraddug hillfort
Bevan-Evans, M , 1964 , Farmhouses and cottages of Flintshire
Bevan-Evans, M , 1966 , Local government in Treuddyn 1752-1821 , Flintshire Historical Society Publications : 22 : 25
Brassil, K S , 1979 , Moel Hiraddug , Archaeology in Wales : 19 : 15-16
Brassil, K S , 1980 , Excavations at Moel Hiraddug, Dyserth , Archaeology in Clwyd : 3 : 1-3
Brassil, K S , 1982 , Rescue excavations at Moel Hiraddug 1960-80 , Flintshire Historical Society Journal : 30 : 13-88
Brassil, K S, Guilbert, G C, Livens, R G, Stead, W H, & Bevan-Evans, M , 1982 , Rescue excavations at Moel Hiraddug between 1960 and 1980 , Flintshire Historical Society Journal : 30 : 13-88
Cadw , 1984 , Cadw Field Monument Wardens Report - FL012(FLT)
Cadw , 1985 , Cadw Field Monument Wardens Report - FL012(FLT)
Cadw , 1991 , Cadw Field Monument Wardens Report - FL012(FLT)
Cadw , 1992 , Cadw Field Monument Wardens Report - FL012(FLT)
Cadw , 1993 , Cadw Field Monument Wardens Report - FL012(FLT)
Cadw , 1994 , Scheduling map - FL012(FLT) ( © Cadw)
Cadw , 2002 , Cadw Field Monument Wardens Report - FL012(FLT)
Cadw , 2003 , Cadw Field Monument Wardens Report - FL012(FLT)
Cadw , 2017 , Scheduled Monument consent letter
Clwyd Archaeology Service , Photograph of Moel Hiraddug hillfort
Clwyd Archaeology Service , Photograph of Moel Hiraddug hillfort
Clwyd Archaeology Service , 1982 , Site visit record - PRN102056
Clwyd Archaeology Service , 1988 , Site visit record - PRN102056
Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust , 1979 , CPAT Project Archive
Davies, E., 1949 , The Prehistoric and Roman Remains of Flintshire
Davies, J , 1999 , The Making of Wales
Davies, J L , 1970 , Moel Hiraddug , Archaeology in Wales : 10 : 9-10
Davies, J L , 1971 , Moel Hiraddug , Archaeology in Wales : 11 : 8-9
Davies, J L , 1972 , Moel Hiraddug , Archaeology in Wales : 12 : 12-3
Davies, J L & Bevan-Evans, M , 1969 , Moel Hiraddug , Archaeology in Wales : 9 : 9-10
Edwards, I , 1970 , Digging up our past
Forde-Johnston, J., 1976 , Hillforts of the Iron Age in England and Wales A Survey of the Surface Evidence
Gage, M A , 1884 , Relics found on Foel Hiraddug in the county of Flint , The Montgomeryshire Collections : 17 : 331-2
Grenter,S & Ablitt, J , Hillforts of the Clwydians
Grimes, W F , 1951 , Prehistory of Wales
Guilbert, G C , 1977 , The northern Welsh Marches: some recent developments
Guilbert, G C , 1979 , Excavations at Moel Hiraddug , Archaeology in Clwyd : 2 : 5,6
Guilbert, G C , 1979 , The Guard Chamber Gateways at Dinorben and Moel Hiraddug Hill-forts, and the problem of Dating the Type in North Wales , The Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies : 28 : 516-520
Guilbert, G C , 1980 , title unknown - Dinorben hillfort
Guilbert, G C , 1982 , Iron Age artefacts from Moel Hiraddug , Archaeology in Clwyd : 5 : 12-14
Hemp, W J , 1928 , A LA TENE SHIELD FROM MOEL HIRADDUG, FLINTSHIRE , Archaeologia Cambrensis : 83 : 253-84
Hemp, W J , 1939 , Programme for the annual meeting of the Cambrian Archaeological Assocation
Houlder, C , 1961 , Rescue excavations at Moel Hiraddug 1954-5 , Flintshire Historical Society Publications : 19 : 1-20
Hughes, G , 1994 , Old Oswestry Hillfort. Excavations by W J Varley, 1939-1940 , Archaeologia Cambrensis : CXLIII : 46-91
Jones, B., & Fowler, E , 1981 , Archaeology In Wales
Kendrick, T D & Hawkes , 1932 , Archaeology in England and Wales
Leeds, E T , 1933 , Celtic Ornament
Ordnance Survey , 1979 , OS record card SJ 07 NE 1
Pritchard, T.,W., 2011 , Flintshire Historical Society. A Centenary History 1911-2011
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales , 1982 , RCAHMW archives - SJ07NE
Savory, H N , 1973 , La Tene in Wales
Savory, H., N., 1976 , Guide Catalogue of the Early Iron Age Collections
Silvester, R J & Brassil, K S , 1991 , Mineral workings in Clwyd and Powys: an archaeological assessment ( © Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust)
Stead, I M , 1968 , An Iron Age hillfort at Grimthorpe, Yorkshire , Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society : 34 : 173-6
Stead, W H , 1961 , Moel Hiraddug , Archaeology in Wales : 1 : 3
Thomas, D , 1992 , Moel Hiraddug, Dyserth , Archaeology in Wales : 32 : 59
Thomas, D , 1993 , Excavations at Moel Hiraddug, Clwyd, 1992 ( © Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust)
Thomas, D , 1993 , Report on the excavation of a cable trench at Moel Hiraddug 1993 ( © Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust)
Unknown , 1960-72 , Photographic archive, Moel Hiraddug excavations
Varley, W J , 1964 , Cheshire before the Romans
Walls, L J & Bevan-Evans, M , 1968 , Cairn cemetery on the Clwydians between Moel Ffenlli and the summit of Moel Fammau , Flintshire Historical Society Publications : 23 : 87-90

Events :
34958 : Moel Hiraddug hillfort, excavation 1992 (year : 1992)
34959 : Moel Hiraddug hillfort, watching brief 1993 (year : 1993)
39946 : Moel Hiraddug hillfort, excavation 1979-80 (year : 1979-80)
119734 : Moel Hiraddug hillfort, excavations 1960-67 (year : 1960-1967)
119732 : Moel Hiraddug hillfort, excavations 1954-55 (year : 1954-1955)
119735 : Moel Hiraddug hillfort, excavations 1969-72 (year : 1969-1972)
119736 : Moel Hiraddug hillfort, rescue excavations 1954-80 (year : 1954-1980)
119733 : Moel Hiraddug hillfort, survey 1973 (year : 1973)
119822 : Moel Hiraddug hillfort, survey 1954-55 (year : 1954-5)

Related records
CPAT Historic Environment Record (HER) 102056

Compiled date : 31-12-1980


Images :



Archaeological data, from the Historic Environment Record, supplied by The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust in partnership with Local Authorities, Cadw and the partners of ENDEX © CPAT, 2025 (and in part © Crown, 2025). It is intended to be used for private research only and is not for use as part of commercial projects. If you wish to use this information for publication in printed or multimedia form or to compile resources for commercial use, prior permission must be obtained in writing. Use of this information is subject to the terms and conditions of access to HER data published on CPAT's website. Please contact the HER if you have any further questions regarding this information. Please quote the Primary Reference Numbers (PRNs) in any correspondence.

May 9, 2025, 4:11 pm - File produced for Archwilio from CPAT's Regional HER.
Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust, The Offices, Coed y Dinas, Welshpool, Powys, SY21 8RP
tel (01938) 553670, email her@cpat.org.uk, website www.cpat.org.uk

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