Ffridd Faldwyn is an
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 mostly appl ...
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 ...
in northern
Powys
Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...
, in the former county of
Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire, also known as ''Maldwyn'' ( cy, Sir Drefaldwyn meaning "the Shire of Baldwin's town"), is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It is named after its county tow ...
, It is sited on a prominent hill west of
Montgomery, close to but higher than
Montgomery Castle
Montgomery Castle ( cy, Castell Trefaldwyn) is a stone-built castle looking over the town of Montgomery in Powys, Mid Wales. It is one of many Norman castles on the border between Wales and England.
Its strategic importance in the Welsh March ...
, overlooking the
River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
. It is one of the largest hill-forts in Wales.
Description and history
When
Thomas Pennant
Thomas Pennant (14 June Old Style, OS 172616 December 1798) was a Welsh natural history, naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales ...
visited Montgomery in 1776, he noted
"On a hill, not far from the castle, is a stupendous British post. The approach is guarded by four great ditches, with two or three entrances towards the main work, with two or three fosses run across the hill, the end of which is sufficiently guarded by its steepness".
It is described as a
multivallate contour fort Hillforts in Britain refers to the various hillforts within the island of Great Britain. Although the earliest such constructs fitting this description come from the Neolithic British Isles, with a few also dating to later Bronze Age Britain, Britis ...
, and is currently well wooded and overgrown, although a footpath leads from the adjacent small road through the site and down through the
beechwood on the prow of the hill to the main road below. The site was described and surveyed in June 1909, by the
. A detailed survey of the hillfort was published in 1932 by Dr Willoughby Gardner, and this led to excavations being carried out by
B. H. St John O’Neil between 1937 and 1939,
The excavations 1937-39
These excavations by St John O'Neil, who was the Inspector of Ancient Monuments in Wales, were carried out to a high standard. Five sections were cut across the various ramparts and three area excavations were opened. This was following the most recent excavation practices developed by
Mortimer Wheeler
Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH CIE MC TD (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976) was a British archaeologist and officer in the British Army. Over the course of his career, he served as Director of both the National Museum of Wales an ...
for his excavations at the hillfort at
Maiden Castle in
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
. O’Neill was able to define the earliest phase of the hillfort as smaller enclosure measuring 170 m by 80 m (1.2 hectares), with a gateway to the south, and defended with two rows of timber
palisade
A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade.
Etymology
''Palisade' ...
s. This enclosure stands on the highest area of the hill and contains a small mound which may have been a
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
round barrow
A round barrow is a type of tumulus and is one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe, they are found in many parts of the world, probably because of their simple construction and universal purpose. ...
. Under the southern gate of this enclosure evidence for earlier
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 parts ...
occupation was found. This enclosure was then modified by a box framed timber
rampart
Rampart may refer to:
* Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement
Rampart may also refer to:
* "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...
, with an extension to the north-west and a
barbican
A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes.
Europe ...
added to the south gateway. The inner area of the enclosure contained a number of rectangular "four-poster" structures, which are now interpreted as the supports for wooden framed granaries.
The next phase was to greatly enlarge the hillfort, with timber laced ramparts, which took in much of the slope of the hill to the north-west, towards the river Severn. The hillfort now measured 300 m by 200 m, and covered 4.4 hectares. The existing banks of this enclosure still in places stand to between 3 m and 8 m in height. A large "annexe" area was added to the south-west gateway of this enclosure which may have acted as a barbican. The defences of the larger hillfort appear to have fallen into decay, and at some point, possibly at the time of the
Roman conquest of Britain
The Roman conquest of Britain refers to the conquest of the island of Britain by occupying Roman forces. It began in earnest in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, and was largely completed in the southern half of Britain by 87 when the Staneg ...
, were refurbished with a simple earthen bank.
Interpretation
The lack of finds from the excavations (only one piece of Iron Age pottery was discovered) and the absence of
radio carbon dating
Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon.
The method was dev ...
for the ramparts and other structures, means that it is difficult to date the various phases of O'Neil's excavations. There is the possibility that the earlier smaller enclosure dates from the Later
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
and was contemporary with the earliest phase of the
Breidden Hill
Breidden Hill is an extinct volcanic hill in Powys, Wales, near the town of Welshpool. It is immediately surrounded by the villages of Trewern, Middletown, Criggion, Crew Green and Llandrinio. The peak of the hill reaches to . Footpaths which ...
fort near
Welshpool
Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...
. The larger hillfort of the later phase belongs to
Barry Cunliffe
Sir Barrington Windsor Cunliffe, (born 10 December 1939), known as Barry Cunliffe, is a British archaeologist and academic. He was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 2007. Since 2007, he has been an Emeri ...
’s "developed form" of hillfort and bears comparison with such Wessex hillforts as
Maiden Castle and
Danebury
Danebury is an Iron Age hill fort in Hampshire, England, about north-west of Winchester (). Retrieved on 23 July 2008. The site, covering , was excavated by Barry Cunliffe in the 1970s. Danebury is considered a type-site for hill forts, a ...
in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, as well as
Old Oswestry
Old Oswestry () is a large early Iron Age hill fort in the Welsh Marches near Oswestry in north west Shropshire, England. The earthworks, which remain one of the best preserved hill forts in the UK, have been described as "The Stonehenge of the ...
in
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
. Cunliffe has suggested that these "developed hillforts" went out of use in the 2nd century BC. Also, using Danebury as a model, Cunliffe has shown how "developed hillforts" have a pattern of smaller hillforts and settlements surrounding them. In the case of Fridd Faldwyn, it is possible to detect this in the neighbouring parishes of
Llandyssil
Llandyssil is a village in Powys, Wales, about two miles from the town of Montgomery.
The village is part of the Llandyssil community. In 2001 there were 420 inhabitants in the parish, of whom 300 lived in the village itself.The population fig ...
and
Llanmerewig . These include smaller hillforts at Goron Ddu, Coed y Wig, Cefn Llan and Fronfraith in Llandyssil and Giant's Bank in Llanmerewig
[Silvester, R J, Recent Research on Late Prehistoric and Romano-British Enclosures in Montgomeryshire , "The Montgomeryshire Collections" 2011: 99 : 1-26. This provides the most recent survey of the Llandyssil earthworks in their Montgomeryshire context]
See also
*
List of hillforts in Wales
This is a list of hillforts in Wales.
Anglesey
*Bwrdd Arthur, Din Sylwy (Bwrdd Arthur) (), contour fort
*Caer Idris Hillfort (), promontory fort
*Caer y Twr (), partial contour fort
*Dinas Gynfor (), promontory fort
*Dinas Porth Ruffydd (), p ...
References
{{Reflist
Hillforts in Powys
Prehistoric Wales
Iron Age Britain
Scheduled monuments in Powys
Montgomery, Powys