![Embankment of the Iron Age fort, Caerau, Cardiff](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Embankment_of_the_Iron_Age_fort%2C_Caerau%2C_Cardiff.jpg)
Caerau Hillfort ( cy, Bryngaer Caerau) is a large triangular
multivallate Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
hillfort
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
, built on a previously occupied
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
site, occupying the western tip of an extensive ridge-top plateau in the western suburbs of
Caerau and
Ely, Cardiff, Wales. It is the largest Iron Age site of its type in
south Wales and also one of the largest in Great Britain.
The old parish
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
,
St Mary's, and a small
ringwork
A ringwork is a form of fortified defensive structure, usually circular or oval in shape. Ringworks are essentially motte-and-bailey castles without the motte. Defences were usually earthworks in the form of a ditch and bank surrounding the sit ...
, almost certainly a medieval castle site probably contemporary with the church, stand within the hillfort on the north-eastern side.
The hillfort
Caerau Hillfort is the third largest
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
hillfort in Glamorgan, enclosing , and is surrounded by housing and the
A4232. It was once a stronghold of the powerful
Silures tribe who inhabited this part of Wales before the arrival of the Romans.
Excavations for an episode of
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
's ''
Time Team
''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...
'', broadcast in April 2012,
showed the hillfort's occupation began about 600 BC. Further excavations, in 2013–2014, revealed evidence of the site's occupation back to the early
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
.
Finds included flint tools and weapons dating to 3600 BC. Iron Age and Romano-British
The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...
pottery as well as a single fragment of a mortarium (1st century AD Roman pouring vessel) have been found from an area north-west of the southern entrance.
The steep north and south slopes of the ridge are both fortified by three massive ramparts with accompanying ditches, although these are hidden beneath trees and scrub. On the east side the hillfort defences appear to have been reduced to two ramparts in the north and one in south. There seem to have been two entrances to the hillfort, one in the middle of the east side and one west of the south corner. At the east entrance the ramparts curve round to command the approach, but there is no corresponding in turn at the south entrance. An apex in the north-west of the hillfort may be a third entrance, but it has been heavily eroded by water flowing from a spring.
The interior, now pasture, was cultivated in the past, and the characteristic traces of rig and furrow agriculture can be seen on aerial photographs. It is traversed by two earthworks which may be old field boundaries, or even the remains of a smaller, earlier hillfort or even a Neolithic causewayed enclosure.
St Mary's church
St Mary's church probably dates to the 13th century, and is set within an oval churchyard. Today, it is ruinous and consists of stone walls, mostly stone rubble, nave with south porch and north vestry, chancel and a tower. St Mary's was restored c. 1885 by John Prichard, the Llandaff diocesan architect, who rebuilt the chancel, while the vestry was added in c. 1920. The church was closed in 1957 and allowed to fall into ruin, but was again restored in 1961 by Father Victor Jones. However, after Father Jones left the diocese, the church was again allowed to fall into disrepair.[Jay, D. and Lewis, R. 2008. St Mary The Virgin Church, and hillfort at Caerau: a history 1260–2008. Cardiff: DAJAY Publications.]
The ringwork
To the north-east of St Mary’s church is an oval medieval ringwork measuring 35 m by 20 m. The oval enclosure is defined by a rampart and ditch with an entrance facing southwest towards St Mary's church. It is possible that it is an unrecorded castle belonging to the Bishops of Llandaff
The Bishop of Llandaff is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff.
Area of authority
The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The bishop's seat is in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (the site of ...
, probably contemporary with the church.
See also
* History of Cardiff
The history of Cardiffa City and County Borough and the capital of Walesspans at least 6,000 years. The area around Cardiff has been inhabited by modern humans since the Neolithic Period. Four Neolithic burial chambers stand within a radius of ...
* Timeline of Cardiff history
The timeline of Cardiff history shows the significant events in the history of Cardiff which transformed it from a small Roman fort into the modern capital city of Wales.
The word ''Caerdyf'' has its origins in post-Roman Brythonic words mean ...
* History of Wales
The history of what is now Wales () begins with evidence of a Neanderthal presence from at least 230,000 years ago, while ''Homo sapiens'' arrived by about 31,000 BC. However, continuous habitation by modern humans dates from the period after ...
* List of scheduled monuments in Cardiff
Notes
External links
Coflein website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caerau Hillfort
Hillforts in Cardiff
Scheduled monuments in Cardiff
History of Cardiff
Former populated places in Wales