Rudbaxton Rath is a ring-shaped enclosure together with a ringed

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

in the parish of

Rudbaxton Rudbaxton is a village, parish and a local government community in the county of Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is from Cardiff and from London. Description The community includes the expanding village of Crundale and the settlements of Poyston Cros ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

, Wales. It is situated roughly 1.54 km northeast of Crundale and about 2.39 km east of

Haverfordwest Aerodrome Haverfordwest Airport ( cy, Maes Awyr Hwlffordd) , also known as Withybush Airport, is a minor airport located north of Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire. It is on the site of the former RAF Haverfordwest, which was operational between 1943 and 1945 ...

. It is the remains of a medieval defensive

ringfort Ringforts, ring forts or ring fortresses are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Bronze Age up to about the year 1000. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are also many in South Wales ...

, hillfort or castle, probably made of timber. At the site are the remains of light earthwork. The nearly circular interior area is surrounded by a

counterscarp A scarp and a counterscarp are the inner and outer sides, respectively, of a ditch or moat used in fortifications. Attackers (if they have not bridged the ditch) must descend the counterscarp and ascend the scarp. In permanent fortifications th ...

and measures around 100 metres north to south by 95 metres east to west. A possible entrance has been identified at the north side. There is a

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 ...

that is around 3 metres high. Within the western rampart an elliptical enclosure can be seen, measuring (north-northwest to south-southeast) roughly 50 metres by 32 metres. Artefacts at the site include unspecified armour and two rings made of iron approximately 20 cm across. Two twisted iron rings were discovered about 20 cm in diameter. It is possible that they were once

torc A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large rigid or stiff neck ring in metal, made either as a single piece or from strands twisted together. The great majority are open at the front, although some had hook and ring closures and a few had ...

s. Also found at the site is a half-scale model of a human hand, also made of iron. This hand may be Roman or

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 ...

. Exterior to the enclosure at the east are the remains of a chapel.

References

{{reflist Castles in Pembrokeshire