Slwch Tump, also known as Slwch Camp and formerly known as Pen Cevn-y-Gaer, 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 ...

close to

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...

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 ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Site

The enclosure is located on a hill composed of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

s of the St Maughans Formation with an elevation of 807 ft (246 m), about 0.8 miles (1.3 km) east of the confluence of the Rivers

Usk Usk ( cy, Brynbuga) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, northeast of Newport. It is located on the River Usk, which is spanned by an arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. Usk Castle, above the town, overlooks th ...

and Honddu in the centre of Brecon. The hillfort can be accessed by a public footpath which joins Slwch Lane north of the site and loops around the rampart.

Description

The hillfort is smaller than the one on nearby Pen-y-crug and is irregular but roughly rectangular in shape, measuring about 187 m by 242 m, with a single encircling rampart. Samuel Lewis described it in 1845 as "defended by a double fosse, which is in some places nearly destroyed". Its entrance is on the north-west side, towards Brecon. Today its form is somewhat obscured by hedges and trees. Within the hillfort area there are remains of abandoned quarries for building stone.

St Eluned

A small church stood for some time at Slwch Tump, marking the place where

Saint Eluned Saint Eluned ( cy, Eiliwedd; la, Almedha or ''Elevetha''), also known as Aled and by other names, was a 5th- or 6th-century virgin martyr from modern Brecon. George Phillips, writing for the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', calls her "the Luned of t ...

was supposedly beheaded. Eluned was one of the daughters of the 5th-century King

Brychan Brychan Brycheiniog was a legendary 5th-century king of Brycheiniog (Brecknockshire, alternatively Breconshire) in Mid Wales. Life According to Celtic hagiography Brychan was born in Ireland, the son of a Prince Anlach, son of Coronac, and h ...

Brycheiniog Brycheiniog was an independent kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Normans be ...

and, as a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, she refused a pagan prince's marriage proposal and fled from him. At Slwch Tump, the local lord permitted her to build herself a cell, where she lived until her spurned suitor found her. As she ran from him, he cut off her head with his sword. A spring of water appeared and her cell became a small church, which remained on the site, latterly in a ruinous state, until 1698. Before the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, the spring was associated with healing and other miracles.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web, url=http://www.breconbeacons.org/fforestfawr/community-pages/brecon, title=Brecon, publisher=Fforest Fawr Geopark, accessdate=17 November 2012 {{cite web, url=http://www.breconbeacons.org/fforestfawr/understanding/archaeology-industrial-heritage/iron-age, title=Iron Age, publisher=Fforest Fawr Geopark, accessdate=17 November 2012 {{cite web, url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/92032/details/SLWCH+CAMP;SLWCH+TUMP;GINGER+WALL/, title=Slwch Camp; Slwch Tump; Ginger Wall, author=J.Wiles, date=24 July 2002, publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, accessdate=17 November 2012 {{cite web, url=http://www.cpat.org.uk/projects/longer/histland/usk/1173.htm, title=Historic Landscape Characterisation - Middle Usk Valley - Brecon and Llanddew communities, Powys, publisher=Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust, date=19 June 2012, accessdate=17 November 2012 {{cite book, author=David Hugh Farmer, title=The Oxford Dictionary Of Saints, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cRjn9aC8zhIC&pg=PT56, accessdate=17 November 2012, date=23 September 2004, publisher=Oxford University Press, isbn=978-0-19-860949-0, page=56 {{cite book, author=Samuel Lewis, title=A topographical dictionary of Wales,: comprising the several counties, cities, boroughs, corporate and market towns, parishes, chapelaries, and townships, with historical and statistical descriptions: embellished with engravings of the arms of the bishoprics, and of the arms and seals of the various cities and municipal corporations: and illustrated by maps of the different counties, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6XwOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA421, accessdate=17 November 2012, year=1845, publisher=S. Lewis, page=421 Hillforts in Powys Hillforts in the Brecon Beacons National Park Brecon

Site

Description

St Eluned

See also

References