Scheduled Monuments- Full Report
Summary Description of a Scheduled Monument
Reference Number
GM033
Name
Nash Point Camp
Date of Designation
Status
Designated
Location
Unitary Authority
Vale of Glamorgan
Community
St. Donats
Easting
291525
Northing
168490
Broad Class
Defence
Site Type
Hillfort
Period
Prehistoric
Description
Summary Description and Reason for Designation
The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument.
The monument comprises the remains of a hillfort, which probably dates to the Iron Age period (c. 800 BC - AD 74, the Roman conquest of Wales). Hillforts are usually located on hilltops and surrounded by a single or multiple earthworks of massive proportions. Hillforts must have formed symbols of power within the landscape, while their function may have had as much to do with ostentation and display as defence.
Due to coastal erosion, only a small part of this hillfort remains. A narrow tongue of the promontory at Nash Point now survives with a precipitous cliff on the seaward side and a steep bank down to the Marcross valley on the other. This area was turned into a fort by constructing banks and ditches across its now narrow neck. The main defences consist of four parallel banks set close together. The three inner ones are steep-sided, with ditches between them. A crouched burial was found in the lower filling of the innermost ditch. The outer bank, to the north of a small gully, is much longer and gentler. It cuts off the peninsula and guards the approach, which was up the gully and along a narrow shoulder southwards to the entrance on the east side of the three inner banks. The innermost bank curves inwards next to it, making it half an inturned entrance.
The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of later prehistoric defensive organisation and settlement. The site forms an important element within the wider later prehistoric context and within the surrounding landscape. The site is well preserved and retains considerable archaeological potential. There is a strong probability of the presence of evidence relating to chronology, building techniques and functional detail.
The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.